'^%^ 


Literary  Culture  in  Early-^ew  England. 


Published  in  Memory  of 
Thomas  Goddard  Wright. 


LITERARY  CULTURE 

IN 

EARLY  NEW   ENGLAND 

1620-1730 

Si'  Thomas  Qoddard  Wright^ 

Late  Instru(£lor  in  English  in  Yale  University. 
EDITED    BY    HIS    WIFE 


NEW   HAVEN: 

YALE  UNIVERSITY  PRESS. 

J^ndon :  Humphrey  <JVlilford:  Oxford  University  T^ress. 

MDCCCCXX. 


Copyright  1920  by 
Yale  University  Press. 


,/ 


Contents. 


PAGE 

Memorial  Note  by  William  Lyon  Phelps    ...  7 

Preface       9 

Introduction 11 

PART  I 

THE  EARLY  SETTLERS 

Chapter 

I.  Education 15 

II.  Libraries  and  the  Circulation  of  Books     .        .  25 

III.  Intercourse  with  England  and  English  Literary- 

Men         62 

IV.  Other  Phases  of  Culture 76 

V.  The  Production  of  Literature     ....  82 

PART  II 

THE  END  OF  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY 

VI.  Education 99 

VII.  Books  and  Libraries no 

VIII.  Quotations  by  New  England  Writers        .        .  137 
IX.  Relations  with  England  and  Other  Phases  of 

Culture 152 

X.  The  Production  of  Literature     .        .        .        •  ^59 


/;  £?  r*"  *:■-  '-^ 


6  Contents. 

PART  III 

THE   NEW  CENTURY 

PAGE 

XL  Education 171 

XII.  Books  and  Libraries 174 

XIII.  Other  Phases  of  Culture 197 

XIV.  The  Production  of  Literature     ....  205 

APPENDIX 

Items  Illustrating  the  Movement  of  Books  to  and 

among  New  Englanders 219 

Invoices 224 

Book  References  in  Increase  Mather's  Writings       .  237 

Book  References  in  Cotton  Mather's  Writings          .  242 

Inventory  of  the  Library  of  William  Brewster  .  254 
Books    Bequeathed   to   Harvard   College   by   John 

Harvard .  265 

Selected   Titles    from    the    1723    Catalogue   of  the 

Harvard  Library 272 

Selected  Titles  from   the   1725  Supplement  to  the 

Catalogue  of  the  Harvard  Library           .        .        .  293 

Bibliography 295 

Index 305 


Memorial  Note. 


THOMAS  GODDARD  WRIGHT,  the  author  of  this 
book,  was  born  at  Fort  Ann,  New  York,  the  seven- 
teenth of  x'\ugust,  1885.  He  was  the  son  of  the  Rev- 
erend William  Russell  Wright  and  Alma  (Boardman)  Wright. 
He  was  graduated  from  the  Hartford  Public  High  School  in 
1903,  and  then  entered  Yale  University,  where  he  received 
the  degree  of  B./\.  in  1907,  M.A.  in  1908,  and  Doctor  of 
Philosophy  in  1917.  On  the  seventh  of  June,  1913,  he  was 
married  to  Mabel  Hyde  Kingsbury,  daughter  of  Dr.  and 
Mrs.  Edward  N.  Kingsbury,  of  Woonsocket,  Rhode  Island. 
From  the  year  1908  he  had  served  first  as  Assistant,  and  later 
as  Instructor  in  English  in  the  Sheffield  Scientific  School  of 
Yale  University. 

This  book  is  in  his  favourite  field  of  study,  and  is  in  part 
representative  of  his  special  research  therein  covering  a 
period  of  five  or  six  years.  While  primarily  intended  for  the 
use  of  scholars  in  history  and  literature,  it  is  by  no  means 
without  interest  for  the  general  reader. 

In  the  death  of  Dr.  Wright,  Yale  University  suffers  a 
severe  loss  from  the  ranks  of  its  scholars  and  teachers.  He 
was  intensely  beloved  both  by  his  colleagues  and  by  his 
pupils.  His  character  and  personality  had  an  extraordinary 
charm;  he  was  modest,  generous,  unselfish,  faithful  and  pure 
in  heart.  I  never  knew  a  man  more  free  from  the  meaner 
vices  of  self-interest  and  self-importance.  The  advance- 
ment of  his  rivals  pleased  him  more  than  his  own  achieve- 
ments. No  one  could  know  him  without  feeling  a  sense  of 
elevation.  His  high-minded  and  unassuming  devotion  to 
his  work  was  an  example  to  us  all,  and  his  influence  will  be 
permanently  fruitful. 

William  Lyon  Phelps. 
Yale  University,  Tuesday,  3  June,  1919. 


Preface. 


THE  subject  of  the  study  which  follows  was  suggested 
to  me  by  Professor  Henry  A.  Beers,  to  whom  I  owe 
more  than  I  can  express  for  his  wise  guidance  and 
sympathetic  encouragement  throughout  the  preparation  of 
this  work.  I  wish  to  acknowledge  also  the  assistance  of 
Professor  William  Lyon  Phelps,  under  whose  supervision 
the  work  was  carried  on  after  the  retirement  of  Professor 
Beers  from  active  teaching. 

I  owe  much  to  Professor  Keogh  and  Messrs.  Gruener  and 
Ginter  of  the  Yale  University  Library,  and  Mr.  Sanborn, 
formerly  of  the  Library,  all  of  whom  I  have  found  invariably 
responsive  to  any  demands  which  I  have  made  upon  them 
for  help  in  finding  material  for  this  work.  I  wish  to  acknowl- 
edge also  the  kindness  of  Mr.  Julius  H.  Tuttle  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts Historical  Society,  Mr.  Clarence  S.  Brigham  of  the 
American  Antiquarian  Society,  and  Messrs.  William  C.  Lane 
and  Walter  B.  Briggs  of  the  Harvard  University  Library, 
who  assisted  me  in  my  search  for  material.  To  Mr.  Albert 
Matthews  of  the  Colonial  Society  of  Massachusetts  and  Pro- 
fessor Charles  M.  Andrews  of  Yale,  who  kindly  read  my 
manuscript,  I  am  indebted  for  many  valuable  suggestions. 

Finally  to  those  who,  in  connection  with  the  various 
historical  and  antiquarian  societies  of  New  England,  have 
gathered  and  made  accessible  a  wealth  of  valuable  material 
I  owe  an  inestimable  debt;  without  the  fruits  of  their  labor 
my  task  would  have  been  an  impossible  one. 

T.  G.  W. 


Introduction. 


MOST  students  of  our  colonial  literature  devote 
themselves  primarily  to  the  appraisal  of  its  value 
as  literature.  The  pages  which  follow  will  not 
attempt  to  weigh  colonial  literature,  either  to  condemn  or 
defend  it  (although  at  times  they  may  endeavor  to  correct 
impressions  which,  to  the  writer,  seem  erroneous),  but  rather 
will  attempt  to  determine  that  which  lies  back  of  any  litera- 
ture, the  culture  ot  the  people  themselves,  and  to  study  the 
relation  between  their  culture  and  the  literature  which  they 
produced.  In  the  attempt  to  determine  the  culture  of  the 
people  of  New  England  the  writer  has  made  a  study  of  their 
education,  their  libraries,  their  ability  to  obtain  books,  their 
use  and  appreciation -of  books,  their  relations  with  political 
and  literary  life  in  England,  and  their  literature.  In  the 
course  of  the  study  certain  generally  accepted  notions  of  the 
low  estate  of  colonial  culture  will  be  shown  to  be  incorrect 
or  exaggerated.  There  were  in  New  England  as  in  Old 
England  many  people  who  were  without  culture  and  even 
illiterate;  but  the  general  state  of  culture  in  the  colonies  will 
be  shown  to  be  higher  than  it  has  usually  been  rated. 

This  study  has  been  limited  approximately  to  the  first 
one  hundred  years  of  colonial  life,  and  to  the  New  England 
colonies  with  Boston  as  their  center.  These  colonies  form  a 
distinct  unit,  akin  to  each  other,  and  differing  from  any  other 
colony,  or  group  of  colonies,  in  both  antecedents  and  inter- 
ests. That  much  more  is  said  of  those  who  settled  on  Massa- 
chusetts Bay  than  of  those  elsewhere  in  New  England  is  due 
partly  to  the  greater  comprehensiveness  and  accessibility  of 
the  extant  records  of  that  region,  and  partly  to  the  fact  that 
Boston  was  the  literary  and  cultural  center  as  well  as  the 
chief  city  of  these  colonies.     It  must  have  a  predominant 


1 2  Introduction. 

place  in  this  discussion,  just  as  London  would  in  a  similar 
study  of  the  literary  culture  of  England. 

It  is  not  easy  to  divide  the  first  century  of  colonial  life 
into  cultural  periods  which  have  definite  limits.  To  attempt 
to  discuss  conditions  according  to  generations,  first,  second, 
third,  is  impossible,  because  of  the  range  of  age  of  the  first 
settlers,  and  their  varying  longevity.  Brewster,  Hooker, 
and  Winthrop  all  died  in  the  forties;  John  Norton  and  John 
Wilson  lived  into  the  sixties,  the  latter  almost  outliving  the 
Reverend  John  Eliot,  Jr.,  who  had  been  born  in  New  England. 
For  convenience  the  one  hundred  years  will  be  discussed  as 
if  divided  into  three  periods,  the  first  of  fifty  years,  the 
second  of  thirty,  and  the  last  of  twenty.  The  first,  ending 
about  1670,  covers  the  years  during  which  those  who  came 
to  America  as  settlers,  men  born  and  educated  in  England, 
were  in  control  of  the  affairs  of  the  colony,  and  determined 
its  culture.  By  1670  practically  all  of  these  men  had  died, 
and  government,  education,  and  culture  were  in  the  hands 
of  men  reared  and  trained  in  the  New  World.  The  second 
period  ends  with  the  seventeenth  century,  partly  because 
the  century  mark  makes  a  convenient  terminal,  and  partly 
because  there  are  certain  differences  in  the  life  of  the  colonists 
before  and  after  the  opening  of  the  century.  The  third 
period  covers  the  rest  of  the  one  hundred  years.  It  must  be 
remembered,  however,  that  the  limits  of  the  periods  are 
approximate,  not  exact;  the  last  period,  for  example,  instead 
of  stopping  absolutely  at  1720,  includes  a  discussion  of 
certain  events  in  the  half-dozen  years  immediately  following 
that  date. 

The  writer  recognizes  that  his  study  is  incomplete.  It 
never  can  be  complete  because  too  many  of  the  records  have 
perished.  Certain  records  which  are  preserved  but  which 
have  been  inaccessible  might  throw  more  light  upon  the 
subject;  but  presumably  these  would  merely  add  detail  and 
in  no  way  affect  the  main  conclusions. 


Part  I: 

The  Early  Settlers. 

1620-1670. 


Chapter  I:   Education. 


WITH  the  exception  of  the  group  which  settled 
Plymouth,  the  founders  of  New  England  included 
in  their  ranks  a  remarkably  high  proportion  of 
university  men.  The  settlers  of  Plymouth,  mostly  vil- 
lage and  country  folk  of  no  particular  education,'  lost 
rather  than  gained  educationally  during  the  years  of  their 
hardships  in  Holland  (which  was  one  reason  for  their  desire 
to  leave),  so  that  when  the  Mayflower  crossed  the  seas  it 
carried  but  one  man  of  university  training,  and  even  he  did 
not  have  a  degree.  William  Brewster  had  entered  St.  Peter's, 
or  Peterhouse,  Cambridge,  December  3,  1580,^  and  had  there 
spent  a  year  or  two  before  leaving  for  active  life  as  a  private 
secretary  or  confidential  servant  to  William  Davison,  later 
Secretary  of  State,  and  then  busy  helping  to  carry  out  Queen 
Elizabeth's  designs  in  Scotland  and  Holland.  Until  Ralph 
Smith,  the  first  settled  minister  of  Plymouth,  arrived  in  1629, 
Brewster  was  the  only  university  man  in  the  colony. ^  In  the 
thirty  years  that  followed  less  than  a  score  of  university  men 
came  to  the  colony,  and  of  these  only  three  remained  and 
followed  their  calling.  "Able  men,  like  Norton,  Chauncy, 
Hooke,  and  Williams,  tarried  but  a  short  time  and  went  to 
wider  fields. "^  "Prior  to  1650  Harvard  College  neither  re- 
ceived from  Plymouth  nor  contributed  to  that  place  more 
than  one  or  two  persons. "^  The  other  settlements  presented 
a  striking  contrast  to  Plymouth.     Even  before  Winthrop 

'"In  the  main  they  were  plain  farmers."  H.  M.  Dexter,  The  England  and 
Holland  of  the  Pilgrims,  p.  379. 

'  Ibid.,  p.  256. 

3  F.  B.  Dexter,  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Proceedings,  ist  Series,  xvii. 
344- 

^William  Bradford,  History  of  Plymouth  Plantation,  i.  134  note. 

5  Ibid.,  i.  134  note. 


1 6        Li'.erary  Cultutc  in  Early  New  England. 

came  in  1630,  university  men  had  settled  on  the  shores  of 
Massachusetts  Bay,*  and  with  Winthrop,  or  following  him 
in  the  next  ten  or  fifteen  years,  were  Oxford  and  Cambridge 
men  to  the  number  of  nearly  one  hundred^  out  of  a  total 
population  of  not  more  than  25,000.*  Of  these  at  least  fifty 
were  the  possessors  of  advanced  degrees,  and  half  a  dozen 
had  been  appointed  Fellows.  Nearly  every  college  of  each 
university  was  represented  here,  and  among  the  colonists 
were  men  who  had  been  in  Cambridge  when  Milton  was 
studying  there,  although  no  one  who  was  in  Christ's  College 
with  him.  Thomas  Shepard,  John  Norton,  Abraham  Pier- 
son,  John  Harvard,  Henry  Dunster,  and  Roger  Williams  may 
be  mentioned  among  the  contemporaries  of  Milton  and 
Jeremy  Taylor,  and  of  these  Williams  was,  at  a  later  period 
at  least,  a  personal  friend  of  Milton's.'  The  friendship  may 
well  have  dated  back  to  college  days. 

Such  an  unusual  proportion  of  university  men  gave  to 
the  young  colony  a  cultural  tone  unique  in  the  history  of 
colonization.  And  if  it  must  be  acknowledged  that  a 
dozen  of  the  men  included  in  the  figures  given  above  left 
the  universities  without  qualifying  for  degrees,  among 
them  John  Winthrop,  Harry  Vane,  Richard  Saltonstall,  and 
Giles  Firmin,  the  list  may  be  supplemented  by  such 
names  as  Nathaniel  Eaton,  who  studied  at  Franeker,  Hol- 

^  William  Blackstone  settled  in  Boston  Bay  in  1623  and  on  the  site  of  Boston 
in  1625.  The  Rev.  William  Morell,  author  of  the  Latin  and  English  poem  on  New 
England  (Nova  Anglia),  with  whom  Blackstone  may  have  come  to  these  shores, 
had  lived  at  Weymouth  a  year  and  a  half  (1623  to  1625),  then  returning  to  England. 
In  1629  Francis  Higginson,  Samuel  Skelton,  Francis  Bright,  and  Ralph  Smith  were 
among  the  settlers  of  Salem.  Bright  soon  returned  to  England;  Smith  went  to 
Plymouth  the  same  year. 

'  F.  B.  Dexter,  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Proceedings,  ist  Series,  xvii. 
340. 

*  Dexter,  ibid.,  p.  344,  and  Estimates  of  Population  in  the  American  Colonies. 

» Williams  wrote  to  John  Winthrop,  Jr.,  July  12,  1654,  "It  pleased  the  Lord  to 
call  me  for  some  time  and  with  some  persons  to  practice  the  Hebrew,  the  Greeke, 
Latine,  French  and  Dutch:  The  Secretarie  of  the  Councell,  (M*^  Milton)  for  my 
Dutch  I  read  him,  read  me  many  more  Languages."  (Massachusetts  Historical 
Society,  Collections,  3rd  Series,  x.  3.) 


Education.  1 7 

land;'"  John  Winthrop,  Jr.,  who  studied  at  DubHn,  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  Inner  Temple  as  lawyer  in  1625,"  and  later 
spent  fourteen  months  touring  the  Continent,  spending 
three  months  in  Constantinople,  and  visiting  practically  all 
the  countries  of  Europe  on  the  way;''  Henry  Whitfield,  who 
studied  "at  the  university,  and  then  at  the  Inns  of  Court;  "'^ 
Thomas  Parker,  who,  withdrawing  from  Oxford  on  the  exile 
of  his  father,  studied  at  Dublin  under  Dr.  Usher,  and  at 
Leyden  under  Dr.  Ames,  and  "proceeded  master"  before  the 
age  of  twenty-two  with  "  the  special  esteem  of  Maccovius, 
a  man  renowned  in  the  Belgick  universities;"'''  and  Dr. 
Robert  Child  of  Corpus  Christi,  Cambridge,  "a  gentleman 
that  hath  travelled  other  parts  before  hee  came  to  us, 
namely  Italy  ....  he  tooke  the  degree  of  Doctor  in 
Physick  at  Padua. "'^ 

Many  of  these  men  were  recognized  by  their  contempora- 
ries in  England  and  on  the  Continent  as  scholars  of  ability. 
That  several  were  elected  Fellows  at  the  universities  has 
already  been  noted.  Charles  Chauncy,  later  president  of 
Harvard,  was  elected  proiessor  of  Hebrew,  and  served  as 
professor  of  Greek,  in  Trinity  College,  Cambridge.'^  Thomas 
Fuller  classed  Thomas  Shepard,  Thomas  Hooker,  Nathaniel 
Ward,  and  John  Cotton  among  "the  learned  writers  of 
Emmanuel  College,"'^  and  of  John  Norton's  answer  to  Apol- 
lonius  he  wrote,  "  ....  of  all  the  Authors  I  have  perused 
concerning  the  opinions  of  these  Dissenting  Brethren^  none 
to  me  was  more  informative ^  then  M""  John  Norton^  (One  of 
no   less  learning  then    modesty)    ....    in    his   answer   to 

"  F.  B.  Dexter,     Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Proceedings,  ist  Series,  xvii. 

344- 

"  R.  C.  Winthrop,  Life  and  Letters  of  John  Winthrop,  i.  203. 

"  Ibid.,  i.  263. 

'3  Cotton  Mather,  Magnalia  Christi  Americana,  i.  592. 

'4  Ibid.,  i.  48 1 . 

*s  Edward   Winslow,    New  England's  Salamander  Discovered,   Massachusetts 
Historical  Society,  Collections,  3rd  Series,  ii.  117. 

'^  Magnalia,  i.  465. 

'T  Fuller,  History  of  Cambridge  University,  p.  I47. 


1 8        Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

Apolloniusy^^  Henry  Dunster  was  an  Oriental  scholar  of 
reputation,  as  is  shown  by  his  correspondence  with  Ravius/' 
The  esteem  in  which  many  of  the  colonists  were  held  is 
further  shown  by  the  fact  that  three  New  England  minis- 
ters, John  Davenport,  John  Cotton,  and  Thomas  Hooker, 
were  invited  to  sit  in  the  Westminster  Assembly,'"  and  that 
several  were  recalled  to  high  positions  in  England,  as  was 
Hugh  Peter,  who  became  Cromwell's  chaplain.  Of  this  more 
will  be  said  later." 

It  is  not  surprising  that  a  colony  comprising  so  many 
educated  men  should  take  an  active  interest  in  the  problem 
of  the  training  of  the  young  men  whom  they  brought  with 
them.  Some  were  trained,  as  was  Thomas  Thacher,  by 
residing  with  and  studying  under  some  minister  of  scholarly 
repute.  Thacher,  the  son  of  a  minister  of  Salisbury,  Eng- 
land, had  been  offered  his  choice  of  either  university,  but 
had  preferred  the  more  congenial  atmosphere  of  New  Eng- 
land, where  he  came  in  1635.  ^^  "was  now  cast  into  the 
family  and  under  the  tuition  of  that  reverend  man,  Mr. 
Charles  Chancey;  ....  Under  the  conduct  of  that  emi- 
nent scholar,  he  became  such  an  one  himself.""  But  such 
methods  did  not  satisfy  the  colony,  and  in  1636  the  General 
Court  voted  £400  for  the  establishing  of  a  college.  When 
John  Harvard,  the  first  minister  in  the  colony  to  die  without 
leaving  dependents,  bequeathed  to  the  college  in  1638  his 

'*  Magnalia,  i.  290.  Fuller,  Church-History  of  Britain,  xvii  Century,  xi  Book, 
p.  213.  , 

'9  Chaplin,  Life  of  Henry  Dunster,  p.  86.  Ravius  (Christian  Rau)  after  travel 
and  study  in  the  Orient  was  professor  of  Oriental  languages  successively  at 
Gresham  College  and  the  Universities  of  Utrecht,  Oxford,  and  Upsala. 

^^  Winthrop's  Journal,  i.  223  note;  ii.  71. 

^'  See  Chapter  in,  below. 

"  Magnalia,  i.  490.  Mather  mentions  thirteen  others  who  were  educated  in 
this  manner:  Samuel  Arnold  of  Marshfield,  John  Bishop  of  Stamford,  Edward 
Bulkly  of  Concord,  Thomas  Carter  of  Woburn,  Francis  Dean  of  Andover,  James 
Fitch  of  Norwich,  Thomas  Hunford  of  Norwalk,  John  Higginson  of  Salem,  Samuel 
Hough  of  Reading,  Thomas  James  of  Easthampton,  Roger  Newton  of  Milford, 
John  Sherman  of  VVatertown,  and  John  Woodbridge  of  Newberry.  (Magnalia,  i. 
237-) 


Education.  19 

library  and  one  half  of  his  estate/^  the  beginning  of  college 
education  in  America  was  made  possible.  The  first  teacher 
appointed,  Nathaniel  Eaton,  had  been  educated  in  Holland, 
at  Franeker.  When  he  proved  unsatisfactory  for  reasons 
other  than  scholastic, '^  Henry  Dunster  was  appointed  in 
his  place,  and  under  him  the  first  class  of  nine  completed 
its  course  in  1642.  For  a  colony  only  twelve  years  old  this 
was  no  small  achievement. 

The  course  of  studies  was  similar  to  that  of  the  English 
universities,  including  Logic,  Physics,  Ethics,  Politics,  Arith- 
metic, Geometry,  Astronomy,  Greek,  Hebrew,  Chaldee,  and 
Syriac,  with  especial  emphasis  on  Rhetoric,  it  being  required 
that  "every  scholler  ....  declaime  once  a  moneth."^s 
Much  Latin  and  some  Greek  were  required  for  admission,^^ 
and  the  college  rules  stipulated  the  use  of  Latin  for  all  con- 
versation in  the  college.  Under  such  scholars  as  Dunster 
and  Chauncy  the  standards  were  undoubtedly  as  high  here 
as  in  England.^'  On  both  sides  of  the  water  the  chief  pur- 
pose of  the  universities  was  to  train  men  in  divinity,  and 

^^The  college  received  by  this  bequest  £779.17.02.     College  Record  Book  III.  i. 

^1  Nathaniel  Eaton  went  from  Massachusetts  to  Virginia  and  thence,  after  some 
years,  to  Italy,  where  he  received  the  degrees  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy  and  of 
Medicine  at  Padua  in  1647.  The  rest  of  his  life  was  spent  in  England.  (Littlefield, 
Early  Massachusetts  Press,  i.  70.) 

^5  New  England's  First  Fruits,  (1643),  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Col- 
lections, 1st  Series,  i.  245. 

^^  Ibid.,  i.  243.  "When  any  schollar  is  able  to  understand  Tuily,  or  such  like 
classicall  Latine  author  extempore,  and  make  and  speake  true  Latine  in  verse  and 
prose,  ....  and  decline  ....  the  paradigim's  of  nounes  and  verbes  in  the 
Greek  tongue:   Let  him  then   .    .    .    .be  capable  of  admission." 

^7  The  endeavor  of  those  interested  in  the  college  to  ensure  good  teaching  is 
shown  by  the  following  item  from  the  Magnalia,  ii.  I4;  "That  brave  old  man  Jo- 
hannes Amos  Commenius,  t\\Q  fame  of  whose  worth  hath  been  triimpetted  as  far 
as  more  than  three  languages  (whereof  every  one  is  indebted  unto  his  Janua)  could 
carry  it,  was  indeed  agreed  withal,  by  our  Mr.  Winthrop  [the  younger]  in  his  trav- 
els through  the  low  countries,  to  come  over  into  New-England,  and  illuminate  this 
Colledge  and  country,  in  the  quality  of  a  President:  But  the  solicitations  of  the 
Swedish  Ambassador,  diverting  him  another  way,  that  incomparable  Moravian 
became  not  an  American."  Cf.  Albert  Matthews,  Comenius  and  Harvard  Col- 
lege, Publications  of  the  Colonial  Society  of  Massachusetts,  xxi.  146-190. 


20         Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

liberal  learning  suffered  common  neglect.^*  Harvard  at  least 
attempted  to  give  as  much  culture  as  the  English  universities, 
for,  in  the  study  of  Greek,  for  example,  the  requirements 
were:  Etymologie,  Syntax,  Prosodia  and  Dialects,  Gram- 
mar, Poesy,  Nonnus,  Duport,  Style,  Composition,  Imita- 
tion, Epitome,  both  verse  and  prose.''  One  form  of  literary 
activity  practised  at  the  English  universities,  the  writing 
and  production  of  plays,  was,  of  course,  totally  missing  at 
Harvard. 

That  the  education  to  be  gained  at  Harvard  even  in  its 
earliest  days  was  the  equivalent  of  that  of  Cambridge  and 

^*  Of  Cambridge  about  1600  J.  B.  MuUinger  writes  (History  of  the  University 
of  Cambridge,  p.  134),  "Such  are  the  chief  features  in  the  history  of  the  university 
in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth.    It  had  been  decided  that  Cambridge  should  be  mainly 

a  school  of  divinity The  main  interest  having  centred  in  the  discussion 

of  theological  questions,  whatever  was  taught  of  liberal  learning  sank  to  an  almost 
lifeless  tradition."  Of  Cambridge  in  the  first  half  of  the  17th  century  he  writes 
elsewhere  (Cambridge  Characteristics  in  the  Seventeenth  Century,  p.  55  S.), 
"An  attempt  which  he  [Barrow]  made  to  introduce  the  Greek  tragedians  to  the 
attention  of  his  scanty  auditory  met  with  so  little  encouragement  that  he  was 

compelled  to  fall  back  on  Aristotle No  mention  appears  to  be  made  of 

Thucydides  as  a  college  subject  during  this  period /Eschylus  is  rarely 

quoted,  and  Pindar   ....   still  less.     I  find  no  instance  of  the  employment  of 

Lucretius  as  a  class-book Of  the  inimitable  beauties  of  the  Latin  poets 

of  the  prffi -Augustan  school  there  is  not  a  glimpse  of   anything   like  adequate 

recognition Indeed,  if  we  except  the  names  of  Meric   Casaubon,  Milton, 

Herbert,  Barrow,  and  Duport,  it  is  doubtful  whether  we  could  point  to  any  scholar 
in  England  during  the  earlier  part  of  the  century,  who  possessed  that  refined  form 
of  scholarship  represented  in  the  present  day  by  so  nice  a  sense  of  the  beauties 

and  delicacies  of  Greek  and  Latin  verse Milton,  indeed,  stands  in  almost 

painful  contrast  to  his  University  from  his  superiority  in  this  as  in  more  important 
traits."  Of  the  latter  Mullinger  writes  further  {Ibid.,  p.  76),  "In  the  case  of  Mil- 
ton, for  instance,  beyond  the  culture  of  his  classical  taste,  there  is  little  reason  for 
supposing  that  Cambridge  did  much  toward  moulding  his  character,  or,  if  so,  it 
would  appear  to  be  quite  as  much  by  the  development  of  antagonistic  as  of  sympa- 
thetic feelings [p.  78.]  However  reluctantly,  it  would  seem,  therefore,  that 

we  must  forego  that  thrill  of  pride  with  which  we  should  delight  to  trace,  in  the  pro- 
ductions of  the  genius  of  John  Milton,  the  fostering  and  guiding  influence  of  his 
university  career."  G.  C.  Brodrick,  in  his  History  of  Oxford,  p.  94,  says,  "Spenser 
and  other  Elizabethan  poets  had  received  an  University  education;  but  such  men 
derived  their  inspiration  from  no  academical  source;  their  literary  powers  were 
matured  in  a  very  difl^erent  school." 

^'  New  England's  First  Fruits,  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Collections,  ist 
Series,  i.  244. 


Education.  .  21 

Oxford  is  best  shown  by  the  careers  of  some  of  its  earliest 
graduates.  Sir  George  Downing,  of  the  first  class,  rose  to 
distinction  under  Cromwell,  acting  as  his  minister  at  The 
Hague,  a  position  which  he  retained  under  Charles  II,  who 
knighted  him  in  1660,  and  made  him  a  baronet  three  years 
later.3°  Benjamin  Woodbridge  of  the  same  class  became  one 
of  the  chaplains  in  ordinary  to  Charles  II  after  the  Restora- 
tion, and  was  given  the  choice  of  being  canon  of  Windsor 
if  he  would  conform, — which  he  refused  to  do.^'  Henry 
Saltonstall,  also  of  the  first  class  at  Harvard,  was  given 
recognition  at  Oxford.  Among  the  incorporations  of  1652, 
according  to  the  record  in  Wood's  "Athenae  Oxoniensis,"  ap- 
pears, "June  24,  Henr.  Saltonstal,  a  Knight's  Son,  Fellow 
of  New  Coll.  by  the  favor  of  the  Visitors,  and  Doct.  of 
Phys.  of  Padua,  was  then  incorporated.  The  said  degree  he 
took  at  Padua  in  Oct.,  1649."  Samuel  Mather,  the  first 
graduate  to  be  made  a  Fellow  of  Harvard,  became  chaplain 
to  Thomas  Andrews,  Lord  Mayor  of  London,  about  1650. 
He  was  admitted  by  Cambridge,  Oxford,  and  Trinity,  Dub- 
lin, "ad  eundem,"  and  by  the  latter  was  offered  a  "baccalau- 
reatus  in  theologia"  which  he  declined,  although  he  accepted 
an  election  as  Senior  Fellow.  He  also  served  as  chaplain  in 
Magdalen,  Oxford,  preaching  sometimes  in  St.  Mary's.^* 
Increase  Mather  became  a  Master  of  Arts  at  Trinity,  Dub- 
lin, and  was  well  received  by  the  scholars  there,  being 
offered  a  fellowship  which  he  declined.-'^  Before  returning 
to  Boston  at  the  age  of  twenty-two,^''  he  served  for  a  time 
as  chaplain  at  Guernsey.^-' 

With  the  graduates  of  Cambridge  and  Oxford  who  re- 
turned to  England  when  the  Puritans  came  into  power, 
went  a  number  of  Harvard  men  other  than  those  mentioned 
above,  all  of  whom  seem  to  have  been  equipped  to  succeed 

3"  Winthrop  Papers,  i.  536  note. 

3'  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Collections,  ist  Series,  x.  32  note. 

3'  Magnalia,  ii.  43. 

33  Wendell,  Cotton  Mather,  p.  19. 

3<  Magnalia,  ii.  18. 


2  2        Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

in  England.  One  of  them,  Nathaniel  Mather,  wrote  back 
to  his  relatives  in  New  England,  in  1651,  "Tis  incredible 
what  an  advantage  to  preferm^  it  is  to  have  been  a  New 
English  man. "35  It  is  with  natural  pride  that  Cotton  Mather 
remarks,  "From  that  hour  [the  time  of  the  founding  of 
Harvard]  Old  England  had  more  ministers  from  New^  than 
our  New-England  had  since  then  from  01d."-5^ 

The  satisfactory  condition  of  scholarship  at  Harvard  is 
further  shown  by  the  fact  that  "in  several  instances  youth 
of  opulent  families  in  the  parent  country  were  sent  over  to 
receive  their  education  in  New  England."'^" 

Colonial  interest  in  education  was  not  limited  to  the 
higher  education  of  the  college,  as  is  shown  by  the  law 
passed  in  Massachusetts  in  1647:^^ 

....  every  township  in  this  jurisdiction,  after  the  Lord  hath 
increased  them  to  the  number  of  fifty  householders,  shall  then 
forthwith  appoint  one  within  their  town  to  teach  all  such  children 
as  shall  resort  to  him  to  write  and  read,  whose  wages  shall  be  paid 
either  by  the  parents  or  masters  of  such  children,  or  by  the  inhab- 
itants in  general  ....  where  any  town  shall  increase  to  the 
number  of  100  families  or  householders  they  shall  set  up  a  grammar 

35  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Collections,  4th  Series,  viii.  5.  He  reports 
receiving,  within  three  hours  of  landing  in  England,  two  offers  of  churches,  one 
worth  £140  per  annum. 

3'  Magnalia,  i.  237.  In  addition  to  those  mentioned  above,  the  following 
Harvard  men  took  advanced  degrees:  Benjamin  Woodbridge  (A.M.,  Oxford, 
1648),  James  Ward  (A.M.,  Oxford,  1648,  M.B.,  1649),  William  Stoughton  (A.M., 
Oxford,  1653),  John  Glover  (M.D.,  Aberdeen,  1654),  Leonard  Hoar  (M.D.,  Cam- 
bridge, 1671),  Isaac  Chauncy  (M.D.),  Ichabod  Chauncy  (M.D.),  Joshua  Ambrose 
(A.M.,  Oxford,  1656),  and  John  Haynes  (A.M.,  Cambridge,  1660).  Publications 
of  the  Colonial  Society  of  Massachusetts,  xviii.  210. 

37  Palfrey,  History  of  New  England,  ii.  49.  Palfrey  gives  Johnson's  Wonder- 
Working  Providence  as  authority.  Johnson  writes,  " .  .  .  .  some  Gentlemen 
have  sent  their  sons  hither  from  England,  who  are  to  be  commended  for  their 
care  of  them,  as  the  judicious  and  godly  Doctor  Ames,  and  divers  others."  (p.  202, 
Jameson  ed.)  Among  the  "divers  others"  was  Sir  Henry  Mildmay,  who  "sent  his 
Son  William  Mildmay,  Esq;  the  Elder  Brother  oi  Henry  Mildmay,  Esq;  of  Shaw- 
ford  in  Hampshire,  to  study  here  [Harvard]."  (Neal,  History  of  New  England, 
i.  206,  2d  ed.)  Richard  Lyon,  who  helped  Dunster  with  the  revision  of  the  Bay 
Psalm-Book,  was  the  tutor  of  Mildmay.     {Ibid.,  p.  207). 

3'  Littlefield,  Early  New  England  Schools,  p.  77. 


Education.  23 

school,  the  master  thereof  being  able  to  instruct  youth  so  far  as 
they  may  be  fitted  for  the  university.    .... 

Before  this  law  was  passed  many  towns  had  made  pro- 
vision for  grammar  schools.^'  Just  how  zealously  the  law 
was  enforced  it  is  impossible  to  determine,  but  there  are 
records  of  towns  being  fined  for  failure  to  provide  schools, 
as  well  as  records  of  towns  fining  men  for  not  teaching  their 
children  or  apprentices  to  read  and  write. ''°  The  grammar 
schools  were  supplemented,  as  in  England,  by  dame  schools. 
The  established  endowed  grammar  schools  of  England  were 
probably  superior  to  the  colonial  schools,  but  not  as 
numerous  in  proportion  to  the  population,  for  England 
had  no  compulsory  school  law  until  two  hundred  years 
later,  and  illiteracy  was  common.-" 

Before  1645,  ^^Iso,  two  books  for  school  use  had  been 
printed  at  Cambridge.  One  of  these,  of  which  no  copy  has 
survived, ^^  is  referred  to  as  "The  Spelling  Books,"  printed 
by  Stephen  Day  between  1642  and  1645.  The  other  is  John 
Cotton's  catechism  entitled  "Spiritual  Milk  for  Boston  Babes 
in  either  England  Drawn  out  of  the  Breasts  of  both  Testa- 
ments   for   their   soul's   nourishment. "■'•'     Such   catechisms, 

39  Small,  Early  New  England  Schools,  p.  30,  gives  the  following  dates  for  the 
founding  of  grammar  schools: 


Boston 

1635-6 

Braintree 

1645-6 

Charlestown 

1636 

Water  town 

1650 

Salem 

1637 

Ipswich 

1651 

Dorchester 

1639 

Dedham 

1653 

New  Haven 

1639 

Newbury 

1658 

Hartford 

1639 

Northampton 

1667 

Cambridge 

1640-3 

Hadley 

1667 

Roxbury 

1645 

Hingham 

1670 

*°  Ibid.,  pp.  346  ff.  Sometimes  the  towns  escaped  the  fine  upon  the  plea  of  in- 
ability to  obtain  a  schoolmaster. 

4'  In  1847  there  were  official  statistics  in  England  that  one-third  of  the  men  and 
half  the  women  who  presented  themselves  for  marriage  were  unable  to  sign  their 
names.  In  1856  it  was  reported  that  there  were  700  teachers  of  the  dame  school 
type  who  could  not  write.  De  Montmorency,  The  Progress  of  Education  in  Eng- 
land, pp.  90,  94. 

^^  Littlefield,  Early  New  England  Schools,  p.  118. 

«  Ibid.,  p.  107.     Printed  before  1646.  ^ 


24        Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

it  must  be  remembered,  were  commonly  used  as  primers  or 
first  readers  in  day  schools  in  both  Old  and  New  England 
in  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries.  The  shifting 
of  religious  education  to  Sunday  and  the  Sunday-school  was 
the  work  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

All  the  above  evidence  would  seem  to  indicate  that,  as 
far  as  the  possibilities  and  benefits  of  a  satisfactory  educa- 
tion were  concerned,  the  early  colonists  and  their  children 
were  under  no  serious  disadvantage  in  comparison  with 
those  whom  they  had  left  behind  in  England. 


chapter  II:   Libraries  and  the 
Circulation  of  Books. 


ALTHOUGH  the  Pilgrims,  as  has  been  said,  came 
/  \  from  the  lower  ranks  of  society,  and  although  they 
X  jL  endured  years  of  hardship  from  their  first  inter- 
rupted attempt  to  leave  England  until  they  were  finally 
established  in  Plymouth  nearly  twenty  years  after,  they 
were  not  without  books.  William  Brewster,  for  example, 
left  at  his  death  in  1643  a  library  of  nearly  four  hundred 
books,'  and  the  old  soldier.  Miles  Standish,  left  about  fifty.* 
Among  the  latter  are  such  interesting  items  as: 

The  History  of  the  World 

Turkish  History 

A  Chronicle  of  England 

The  History  of  Queen  Elizabeth 

The  State  of  Europe 

BariflF's  Artillery 

Caesar's  Commentaries 

Homer's  Iliad 

The  Swedish  Intelligencer 

The  French  Academy 

The  Country  Farmer 

Calvin's  Institutions 

Brewster's  library  is  more  interesting  as  well  as  larger. 
The  fact  that  many  of  the  books  were  published  after  1620 
shows  that  the  cares  of  colonial  life  and  the  distance  from 
book-stalls  did  not  prevent  the  continued  acquisition  of 
books, — the  steady  acquisition,  if  we  may  be  allowed  to 
draw  any  conclusion  from  the  fact  that  in  his  library  every 

'  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Proceedings,  2d  Series,  v.  37. 
^  New  England  Historical  and  Genealogical  Register,  v.  337. 


26        Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

year  from  1620  to  that  of  his  death,  with  the  exceptions  of 
1639  ^^^  164I,  is  represented.^  The  following  partial  list 
will  show  the  more  literary  tone  of  this  collection: 

Camden, 

Camden, 

Smith,  J., 

Bacon, 

Bacon, 

Raleigh, 

Machiavelli, 

Richardson, 

Cornwallis, 

Prynne, 

Prynne, 

Rainolds, 

Hakluyt, 

Wither,  G., 

Dekker,  T., 


Herring, 
Hornby, 
Rich,  R., 
Johnson,  R., 
Brathwait, 
Smith, 

Lodge,  T., 

Cawdrey, 

Keckerman, 


Britain 

Remains 

Description  of  New  England 

Advancement  of  Learning 

Declaration  of  Treasons  of  the  Earl  of  Essex 

Prerogative  of  Parliament 

Princeps 

On  the  State  of  Europe 

The  Swedish  Intelligencer  1632 

Essays  of  Certain  Paradoxes 

Anti-Arminianism 

Looking-Glasse  for  all  Lordly  Prelates 

The  Overthrow  of  Stage  Plays 

Principal  Navigations 

Works 

Magnificent  Entertainment  given  to  King  James, 
March,  1603,  with  speeches  and  songs  delivered 

Adventure  of  Don  Sebastian 

Messelina  (perhaps  Nathaniel  Richard's  The  Trag- 
edy of  Messalina,)  acted  by  the  company  of  His 
Majesty's  Revels,  1640'' 

Latin  poem  in  honor  of  James  I 

Scourge  of  Drunkenness  (verse) 

Newes  from  Virginia,  1607  (verse) 

Golden  Garland  of  Princely  Pleasures 

The  Description  of  a  Good  Wife  (verse) 

Commonwealth  of  England  and  Government 
Thereof 

Translation  of  the  works  of  Seneca 

Treasurie  of  Similies 

Systema  Geographicum 


3  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Proceedings,  2d  Series,  v.  37. 

4  Ibid.,  V.  37.  If  the  identification  of  Messalina  is  correct,  this  and  Dekker's 
Magnificent  Entertainment  are  the  earliest  evidences  we  have  of  the  existence  of 
the  drama  in  New  England  libraries.  Another  play,  Roxana  Tragedia,  is  men- 
tioned in  the  John  Harvard  library. 


Libraries  and  the  Circulation  of  Books.  27 

Rathbone,         Surveyor 

Norden,  Surveyors  Dialogue 

Standish,  New  Directions   ....    for  Increasing  Timber 

Governor  Bradford  left  a  library  of  about  eighty  volumes, 
including,  in  part,  the  following. 5  It  is  regrettable  that  so 
many  were  uncatalogued. 

The  ffrench  acaddamey 
The  Guiciardin 
The  history  of  the  Church 
The  history  of  the  Netherlands 
Speeds  generall  Description  of  the  world 
The  method  of  phiscicke 
Taylers  libertie  of  Phrophecye 
Gouges  Domesticall  Dutyes 
three  and  fifty  smale  bookes 

Calvine  on  the  epistles  in  Duch  with  Divers  other 
Duch  bookes 

Very  few  of  the  Pilgrims  were  without  books.  The  in- 
ventories of  estates  filed  among  the  Wills  in  the  Plymouth 
Colony  Records  give  proof  of  this.  Of  over  seventy  inven- 
tories examined  in  the  first  two  volumes  of  the  Wills,  only 
a  dozen  failed  to  make  specific  mention  of  books,  and  among 
these  were  some  whose  entire  estates,  including  house  and 
land,  clothes  and  tools,  amounted  to  only  twenty-five  or 
thirty  pounds.  Such  people,  among  them  single  men  who 
had  evidently  come  to  the  new  colony  with  almost  nothing, 
probably  uneducated,  would  not  be  likely  to  possess  books 
in  a  frontier  town  even  today.  In  many  cases  the  books 
mentioned  are  very  few,  the  exact  number  being  hidden 
under  such  phrases  as:  "bookes,"  "all  his  bookes,"  "3 
bibles  and  other  books."  Inasmuch  as  "all  his  bookes" 
were  valued  at  only  eighteen  shillings,^  and  "3  bibles  and 

5  Mayflower  Descendant,  ii.  232. 

^Plymouth  Colony  Records,  Wills,  i.  31.  Estate  of  John  Bryant.  In  these 
volumes  the  numbers  refer  to  sheets,  not  pages.  Up  to  one  hundred,  and  in  a 
few  cases  beyond  that,  the  sheets  are  numbered  11,  21,  31,  or  651,  661,  671,  when 


28        Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

other  books"  at  six  pounds, ^  the  phrases  are  of  little  value  in 
estimating  the  possible  number.  That  even  so  small  a  col- 
lection as  "  I  bible,  i  book  catechism,  i  book  Practice  of 
Christianity"  was  itemized*  would  seem  to  show  their  respect 
for  the  mere  presence  of  a  book.  The  valuation  helps  little 
to  estimate  the  number  where  only  value  is  given.  Brewster's 
library  of  400  volumes  was  appraised  at  £42.19.11,'  which 
would  give  an  average  of  ten  books  to  the  pound;  but  Wil- 
liam Gibson's  "i  bible  and  10  other  books"  at  £00.06.00," 
and  Thomas  Pryor's  "  i  great  bible  i  smale  bible  and  50 
other  bookes"  at  £01.10.00,"  give  a  different  ratio. 

It  is  not  possible,  then,  outside  of  a  few  lists  in  addition 
to  those  given,  to  estimate  the  number  of  books  in  the 
homes  of  the  Pilgrims;  but  the  following  details  will  give 
some  indication. 


Name 

Year 

Total  Inventory 

Books 

Steven  Deans 

1634 

£  87.19.06           £ 

01.00.00 

Thomas  Pry  or 

1639 

22.07.06 

01.10.00 

Nathaniel  Tilden 

I64I 

200.00.00 

05.00.00 

John  Atwood 

1643 

186. 14.00 

09.00.00 

John  Jenney 

1644 

108.03.03 

01.03.06 

William  Brewster 

1644 

150.00.07 

42. 19. II 

Edward  Foster 

1644 

42.03.00 

06.00.00 

Love  Brewster 

1650 

97.09.01 

05.12.04 

Nicolas  Robbins 

1650 

38.19.09 

02.14.00 

Henry  Smith 

I65I 

149. 1 6.00 

01.00.00 

William  Thomas 

I65I 

375.07.00 

08.05.00 

John  Hazell 

I65I 

165.19.00 

04.06.00 

William  Hatch 

1652 

95.03.04 

01.10.00 

Judith  Smith 

1650 

120.06.00 

01.00.00 

Henry  Andrews 

1653 

330.16.00 

02.00.00 

we  would  use  i,  2,  3, 

or  65,  66, 

67- 

I  have 

changed  uniformly  to 

the  modern 

system. 

7  Ibid.,  i.  60.     Estate 

of  Edward  Foster. 

*  Ibid.,  i.  29.     Estate 

of  William  P 

aimer. 

» /^»^.,  i.  53-59- 

"  Ibid.,  i.  35. 

"  Ibid.,  i.  34. 

Libraries  and  the  Circulation  of  Books.  29 


Robert  Waterman 

1653 

£  78.00.00 

£  01.04.00 

John  Lothrop  (Rev.) 

1653 

72.16.06 

05.00.00 

Ann  Atwood 

1654 

24.00.03 

07.00.00 

William  Phillips 

1654 

78.08.00 

01.00.00 

William   [torn  ] 

1654 

157.09.00 

01.10.00 

James  Pilbeame 

1655 

48.05.10 

01.10.00 

Elizabeth  Pole 

1656 

188. 11.07 

02.00.00 

Miles  Standish 

1656 

358.07.00 

1 1.13.00 

John  Gilbert 

1657 

200.00.00 

02.00.00 

William  Bradford 

1657 

not  given 

15.00.00 

Park  Chittenden 

1676 

156.08.05 

01.14.00 

John  Miles  (Rev.) 

1683 

260.00.00 

50.00.00 

Where  titles  are  itemized  they  are  in  most  cases  devo- 
tional or  theological.  In  the  inventory  of  Samuel  Fuller, 
1633,  of  the  twenty-six  given  by  title,  but  three  are  non- 
religious:  a  book  on  government,  one  on  husbandry,  and  a 
"dixionary;"  a  volume  of  "notable  things"  might  belong 
to  either  class."  There  are  also  "other  bookes"  to  the  value 
of  one  pound.  The  inventory  of  John  Atwood  includes 
"Acts  and  Monuments"  in  three  volumes,  a  history,  Prynne's 
"Historio  l^sic^  Mastix,"  and  divers  other  books  to  the  value 
of  three  pounds. '■^  Ann  Atwood  possessed  two  of  Prynne's 
works,  unnamed,  two  French  books  and  a  French  Testa- 
ment, and  "four  and  fifty  smale  bookes  at  6"^  the  piece."''' 
John  Hazell  had  Josephus  and  two  history  books. '«  Governor 
Thomas  Prince  owned,  among  books  to  the  number  of  187, 
valued  at  £13.18.08  in  a  total  estate  of  £422.00.00,  Laud's 
"Conference  with  Fisher  the  Jesuit,"  Prynne's  "Account  of 
Laud's  Trail,"  Morton's  "New  England's  Memorial,"  and 
the  "Essays"  of  Sir  William  Cornwallis.'*' 

Books  and  libraries  were  much  more  common  among 
those  who  settled  in   the  neighborhood  of  Boston  and  in 

"  Wd.,  i.  22. 

"  I/?U.,  i.  47. 

^*  Ibid.,  i.  124. 

■s  Ibid.,  i.  1 01. 

'^  F.  B.  Dexter,  Proceedings  of  the  American  Antiquarian  Society,  xviii.  143. 


30        Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

Connecticut.  Each  minister  had  at  least  a  small  library, 
and  some  who  were  not  ministers  had  excellent  collections 
of  books,  as,  for  example,  John  Winthrop,  Jr.,  who,  accord- 
ing to  his  father's  Journal,  had  in  New  England,  in  the  year 
1640,  a  library  of  over  1000  volumes.'^  Two  years  later  the 
father,  Governor  Winthrop,  was  probably  one  of  the  magis- 
trates who  collectively  gave  to  Harvard  books  to  the  value 
of  £200;'*  and  about  1660  he  gave  to  Harvard's  library 
some  forty  volumes  more.''  The  best  example  of  the  kind 
of  library  which  the  colonists  brought  with  them  is  John 
Harvard's,  which  made  a  substantial  part  of  his  bequest  in 
1638  to  the  college  then  being  built  in  Cambridge.  As 
Harvard  had  been  in  the  colony  but  a  year,  he  could  not 
have  added  many  books  to  those  he  had  with  him  upon 
arrival.  Although  naturally  largely  theological  or  exposi- 
tory, this  collection  contained  a  considerable  number  of 
books  of  a  literary  nature,  as  the  following  selected  list  will 
demonstrate :-" 

Angloru  praelia 

Aquinatis  Opa.  Conclusiones 

Aynsworts   [Henry  Ainsworth  1  workes 

Alstedij  Physica  Harmonia 

Aschamj  Epistolae 

/^sopi  fabulae 

Academia  Gallica 

''Journal,  ii.  i8.  "Mr.  Winthrop  the  younger,  one  of  the  magistrates,  having 
many  books  in  a  chamber  where  there  was  corn  of  divers  sorts,  had  among  them 
one  wherein  the  Greek  testament,  the  psalms  and  the  common  prayer  were  bound 
together.  He  found  the  common  prayer  eaten  with  mice,  every  leaf  of  it,  and  not 
any  of  the  two  other  touched,  nor  any  other  of  his  books,  though  there  were  above 
a  thousand."  It  seems  probable  that  these  represented  only  a  part  of  the  library 
of  John  Winthrop,  Jr.  It  does  not  seem  likely  that  a  man  who  prized  books  as  he 
did  would  have  left  valuable  books  in  a  storeroom  in  which  grain  was  kept, 

'*  Chaplin,  Life  of  Henry  Dunster,  p.  78.    See  pp.  40  and  4I,  below. 

"  Life  and  Letters  of  John  Winthrop,  ii.  438.    College  Book  III,  32. 

^^  Harvard  Library,  Bibliographical  Contributions,  No.  27,  1888,  p.7.  [Revised 
by  A.  C.  Potter,  Catalogue  of  John  Harvard's  Library,  Publications  of  the  Colo- 
nial Society  of  Massachusetts,  xxi:  190-230.  1919.  Ed.^  His  library  contained 
over  300  volumes. 


Libraries  and  the  Circulation  of  Books.         3  i 

^acrtXiKov   8u)pov 

Bacons  advancem^  Essayes 

Camdens  remaines 

Calliopaeia  [rich    store-house    of  .   .  .  phrases.] 

Duns  Scotus  in  8  Libros  Arist.  Phys. 

Erasmj  Colloquia 

Epictetj  Enchyridion 

Elegant  Phrases 

Garden  of  Eloquence 

Essayes  morall  &  Theol. 

Felthoms  resolues 

Homers  workes  in  English" 

Haylins  Geography 

Juvenalis 

Isocratis  Orat:  Grsec  &  Latin 

Lightfoots  Miscelanes 

Lucanus 

Londons  complaint 

Nichols  mirrour  for  Magistrates 

Plautus 

Plutarchj  [North's  Translation]  Vitae  Angl. 

Porcensis  orationes 

Persij  Satyrse 

Poetaru  flores 

Quarles  Poems 

Roxanae  Tragedia" 

Salustius 

Terentius 

Thesaurus  poeticus 

Tullij,  opa  in  2  Tomis.  de  officijs 

Withers  [Title  not  given] 

The  colonists,  then,  were  not  unfurnished  with  books 
when  they  arrived;  and  there  is  much  evidence  that  their 
libraries  were  constantly  increased  by  shipments  from  Eng- 

"  This  may  be  Chapman's  translation,  a  copy  of  which  was  in  the  Harvard 
Library  in  1723.     Bibliographical  Contributions,  No.  27,  p.  10. 

"  By  W.  Alabaster.  In  five  acts  and  verse.  Given  at  Cambridge.  Published 
1632. 


32        Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

land.     Isaac  Johnson  was  scarcely  in  New  England  before 
John  Humfrey  wrote  to  him  from  England, 

I  have  sent  you  those  new  bookes  that  are  lately  come  out, 
Dr.  Ames'  Cases  to  Mr.  Governor^^  which  I  purpose  to  send  you 
by  the  next,  &  now  Dr.  Sibs'  Bruised  Reede  &  Mr.  Dike  of  Scan- 
dals to  you.^-* 

Henry  Jacie  wrote  to  John  Winthrop,  Jr.,  in  January,  1631, 

A  book  of  the  Northern  Star  (by  Dr.  Goad)  was  sent  you  to  go 
herewith. ^^ 

Edward  Howes  wrote  to  John  Winthrop,  Jr.,  November  9, 
1631, 

The  bookes  Mr.  Gurdon  hath  fetcht  away,  and  the  Luna  is  at 
your  service;  soe  is  \sic\  both  the  books  &  Sol^  &  quodcunque  sub 
sole  babet,  vel  habebit  me^  tuum.^^ 

The  next  year  he  wrote: 

I  havinge  sent  some  bookes  to  James  Downinge  ....  beinge 
incited  thereunto  by  his  father;  ....  I  sent  your  honored 
father  a  booke  of  bookes  among  those  to  J.  D.''^ 

...  &  that  your  worthy  father,  with  all  my  louinge  frinds 
may  reead  at  large  the  workinge  of  our  God  in  these  latter  dayes, 
here  I  haue  sent  you  the  Swedish  Intelligencer  which  speakes 
wonder  to  the  world;  withall  I  haue  sent  you  your  Archymedes 
and  an  Almenack,  with  a  booke  or  two  of  other  newes  besides.^* 

Here  in  closed  you  shall  find  a  booke  of  the  probabilities  of  the 
North  West  passage.^' 

I  have  sent  M""  Samford  the  Instrument  and  sight  ruler  the 
Germaine  bespoke  for  him,  together  with  a  booke  to  teach  the 

*3  Mr.  Governor  is  John  Winthrop,  Sr. 

^  Winthrop  Papers,  i.  4.     December  9,  1630. 

's  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Collections,  3rd  Series,  i.  241. 

'^  Winthrop  Papers,  i.  472. 

'7  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Collections,  3rd  Series,  ix.  243.  .April  3, 
1632. 

''  Winthrop  Papers,  i.  477.     1632. 

"» Ibid.,  p.  480.  November  23,  1632.  This  book  was  by  Howes  himself.  The 
copy  inscribed  by  him  is  in  the  collection  of  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society. 


Libraries  and  the  Circulation  of  Books.  33 

use  thereof,  namely  Smyths  Arte  of  Gunnery  at  folio  58  there  the 
same  Instrument  is  to  be  scene;  1  have  likewise  sent  him  Nortons 
Practise  of  Artillerie  chosen  by  the  Germaine  for  him;  and  alsoe 
diverse  platformes  of  the  latest  invented  forts  and  fortifications: 
For  new  bookes  I  writt  to  you  of  D"^  Fludds  works  and  sent  you 
a  cattalogue  of  them  by  M""  Hetherley;  there  is  a  booke  lately 
come  out  of  mathematicall  conclusion  and  recreations,  which  I 
bought  purposely  for  you,  but  M""  Saltonstall  hath  borrowed  it 
.  .  .  .  albeit  I  have  sent  you  two  other  bookes  viz'  Malthus 
Fireworks,  and  the  Horizontall  Quadrant  full  of  new  devices; 
which  I  present  to  your  kind  acceptance.^" 

The  same  year  F.  Kirby  wrote  to  the  younger  Winthrop 
at  various  times: 

For  the  Catalogue  of  bookes  from  Frankfort  I  have  sent  you 
that  of  the  Autumnal!  mart  1631.  the  next  is  not  to  be  had  the 
third  not  yet  come  by  reason  of  Contrary  wind,  but  I  shall  send 

it  God  willinge  by  the  next  ship I  have  now  received  all 

your  mony  of  Edward  Howes  which  maketh  in  all  4li.  i2sh.  for 
the  bookes  and  carriage  of  them.''^ 

With  this  I  enclose  the  Catalogue  of  the  last  vernall  mart,  the 
last  autumnall  is  not  yet  to  be  had.^^ 

I  have  sent  you  heer  inclosed  the  Catalogue  of  the  Autumnall 
mart  1632.  all  the  former  I  have  sent  before. ■'•' 

In  the  years  that  follov^  Edward  Howes  continued  to  send 
books. 

....  in  a  bundle  of  clothes  for  your  cosen  Mary  .... 
you  shall  find  from  him  a  cattalogue  of  the  last  marte  bookes; 
and  from  your  poore  frind  an  exact  and  large  and  the  latest  dis- 
couery  of  the  North  West  passage,  made  by  a  painfull  and  indus- 
trious gent.,  Capt.  James,  as  a  remembrance  of  my  obliged  loue.^'' 

I  haue  bin  held  in  hand  at  Mr.  Fetherston's  shop  by  his  men, 

3°  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Collections,  3rd  Series,  ix.  255.     March  18, 
1632-3. 
3'  Ibid.,  p.  249.     November  25,  1632. 
^^  Ibid.,  p.  252.     December  3,  1632. 
33  Ibid.,  p.  260.     March  26,  1633. 
3''  Winthrop  Papers,  i.  487.     June  22,  1633. 


/». 

J. 

d. 

I 

lO 

o 

o 

I 

6 

o 

lO 

o 

o 

2 

o 

34       Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

euer  since  8ber,3s  to  be  furnished  with  all  those  bookes  you  writt 
for,  and  now  am  forced  to  buy  them  where  I  can  find  them.^*^ 
The  bookes  I  haue  sent  you,  March,  1634. 

2  Catalogues  of  printed  bookes. 

Dr.  Mudds  Macrocosme  in  2  volumes 

Isagoge  Phisico  Magico  &c. 

Petrus  Galatinus  de  Arcanis  Catholicae  veritatis 

Phillippi  Grulingij  Florilegium 

These  are  parte  of  them  you  writt  for. 

I  haue  here  alsoe  sent  you  a  few  others,  which  if  you  like  not, 
I  pray  send  them  againe,  or  any  of  them. 

Mercurius  Rediuiuus  per  Norton  026 

The  Rarities  of  Cochin  China  010 

Wingates  Logarithmes  046 

An  English  Grammer  010 

The  Gunners  Dialogue  020 

Bedwells  Messolabium  010 

The  rest  I  cast  in  to  the  bargaine,  for  you  and  your  fancie  to 
make  merry  withall." 

The  bookes  you  writt  for,  I  haue  not  mett  with  them  as  yet  at 
the  shopps  where  I  haue  bin.^^ 

One  consignment  of  books  to  the  elder  Winthrop  may 
have  failed  to  reach  Boston.  Robert  Ryece  wrote  to  him, 
January  17,  1636, 

I  wrotte  vnto  you  the  17  of  Maye  laste,  accompanied  with  a 
boxe  of  boocks,  which  I  sente  by  my  brother  Samuell  Appleton, 

to  be  convayed  to  hym  for  you I  do  feare   ....    that 

the  schippe  with  the  passengers,  mooche  stuffe  &  goods,  are  all 
perished  by  the  waye.-" 

There  is  no  further  record  of  this. 

35  October. 

3'  Winthrop  Papers,  i.  496.     March  29,  1634. 

3'  Ibid.,  i.  497. 

^'^  Ibid.,  i.  506.     April  14,  1639. 

3'  Ibid.,  i.  394. 


Libraries  and  the  Circulation  of  Books.         35 

The  London  Port  Books  give  other  evidence  of  the  ship- 
ment of  books  to  Boston. 

xvj  Februar  1633  [-34]  In  le  Mary  and  John  of  London   .... 

j  chest  bookes. 

Ouinto  Aprilis  1634  .  .  .  .  In  le  Elizabeth  and  Dorcas  .... 
ij  packes  made  clothes  and  bookes  vj  trunckes  apparell  and  bookes 
for  prouision  for  the  passengers.'*" 

Others  than  the  Winthrops  were  receiving  books  from  Eng- 
land, although  unfortunately  most  of  the  records  of  these 
shipments  have  been  lost.  President  Dunster's  father  wrote 
to  him,  March  20,  1640-1,  "Your  brother  Thomas  remem- 
bers his  love,  and  hath  sent  you  two  dozen  of  almanacks. "'*' 
Henry  Jacie  wrote  March  6,  1647-8,  "I  have  sent  to  Mr. 
Cotton  or  Mr.  Wilson  a  book  for  the  Governors,  of  the  pres- 
ent proceeds  between  the  King  &  Parliament."'*^  The  col- 
onists seem  to  have  been  able  to  get  books  fresh  from  the 
English  presses.  Roger  Williams  wrote  in  a  letter  which, 
although  undated,  undoubtedly  belongs  to  the  year  1650, 
"The  Portraicture  [Eikon  Basilike],  I  guesse  is  Bp.  Halls, 
the  stile  is  pious  &  acute,  very  like  his,  &  J.  H.  subscribes 
the  Epitaph."'*^  And  on  February  15,  1654-5,  he  wrote  of 
two  books  published  in  1653,  "We  allso  here  that  2  of  Mr. 
Dells  bookes  ^yere  lately  burnt  at  the  Massachusetts,  (pos- 
sibly) containing  some  sharpe  things  against  the  Presbyte- 
rians &  Academians,  of  which  I  brought  ouer  one  cald  the 
Triall  of  Spirits. "^4 

At  least  one  comprehensive  library  was  brought  over  for 

'"' Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Proceedings,  xlvii.  179,  183.  Both  ship- 
ments were  consigned  to  John  Winthrop,  Sr. 

'"  ChapHn,  Life  of  Dunster,  p.  22.  It  must  be  remembered  in  connection  with 
this  item  that  the  almanac  was  in  better  esteem  then  than  now,  being  the  sole 
convenient  handbook  of  scientific  information,  often  containing  useful  tables  of 
varied  information  besides  the  usual  astronomical  calculations  and  astrological 
prophecies,  the  latter  often  rhymed. 

'^  Winthrop  Papers,  i.  465. 

«  Ilfid.,  i.  282  and  note. 

^  Il>id.,  i.  291,     He  returned  from  England  in  the  summer  of  1654. 


36       Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

sale  in  the  early  days,  for  Cotton  Mather  records  with 
pride  the  fact  that  although  the  learned  Dr.  William  Ames 
was  prevented  by  death  from  coming  in  person  to  America, 
his  library  did  come.-'^     A  later  historian  says. 

Harvard  College  being  built,  a  Foundation  was  laid  for  a  Pub- 
lick  Library  ....  The  first  Furniture  of  this  Library  was  the 
Books  of  Dr.  William  Ames,  the  famous  Professor  of  Divinity  at 
Franequer.''^ 

The  return  to  England  of  a  number  of  ministers  during 
the  Puritan  regime  undoubtedly  deprived  the  colony  of  sev- 
eral libraries,  but  in  some  cases  the  libraries  were  retained 
in  New  England.  Samuel  Eaton,  returning  in  1640,  gave 
to  New  Haven  his  library  of  over  100  volumes,  including 
the  following  books  r^^ 

Plutarch  (perhaps  North's  translation) 

Virgil 

Sandys'  metrical  translation  of  Ovid''* 

Dionysius  of  Halicarnassus 

More's  Utopia 

Erasmus'  Proverbs 

Raleigh's  History  of  the  World 

Foxe's  Book  of  Martyrs 

Heylyn's  Cosmography 

A  few  years  later  John  Eliot  wrote. 

And  for  my  self  I  have  this  request  (who  also  am  short  enough 

«  Magnalia,  i.  236. 

'f'  Neal,  History  of  New  England,  i.  202.  It  is  not  quite  clear  whether  the 
historian  means  to  imply  that  this  purchase  was  made  before  Harvard  left  his 
library  to  the  college,  or  was  the  first  addition  after  that.  If  the  gratuity  granted 
to  Mrs.  Ames  by  the  Colony  in  1637  '^'^^  ^  partial  return  for  the  library  of  her 
husband,  that  library  preceded  the  books  from  Harvard's  estate  and  formed  the 
foundation  of  the  Harvard  library.  See  Publications  of  the  Colonial  Society  of 
Massachusetts,  xvii.  210,  and  page  40  note  62,  below.  The  Ames  library  was 
almost  entirely  theological  or  philosophical. 

■^  Proceedings  of  the  American  .Antiquarian  Society,  xviii.  138. 

■**  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  this  product  of  the  Virginia  colony,  and  the  finest 
piece  of  literary  work  which  the  first  century  of  colonization  produced,  reached 
the  northern  colony  within  fifteen  years,  if  Eaton  had  the  complete  edition. 


Libraries  and  the  Circulation  of  Books.  37 

in  books)  that  I  might  be  helped  to  purchase  my  brother  Weld 
his  books,  the  summe  of  the  purchase  (34  H.)  I  am  loth  they 
should  come  back  to  England  when  we  have  so  much  need  of 
them  here.-'' 

The  books  were  purchased  for  him  in  1651  by  the  Cor- 
poration for  New  England. s"  Herbert  Pelham,  who  returned 
to  England  in  1649,  mentioned  in  his  will  (he  died  in  1676) 
"all  other  Brass,  Beding,  and  Linnin  with  all  my  Books 
and  other  Utensills  and  moveables  which  I  have  in  the 
Massachusetts  Bay.''^^  The  Rev.  Thomas  Jenner,  returning 
to  England  about  1650  because  of  trouble  with  the  churches, 
was  "compelled  by  poverty  to  sell  his  library,  which  seems 
to  have  been  bought  for  Harvard  College. "^^ 

Libraries  were  not  limited  to  the  studies  of  ministers,  for 
Lion  Gardiner  wrote  to  John  Winthrop,  Jr.,  in  1650,  in 
reference  to  the  obtaining  of  a  pastor  for  the  small  settlement 
of  which  he  was  leader, 

Att  present  wee  ar  willing  to  giue  this  man  you  writ  of  loli. 
a  year,  with  such  diat  as  I  myself  eat,  til  we  see  what  the  Lord 
will  do  with  vs;  and  being  he  is  but  a  yong  man,  hapily  he 
hath  not  manie  books,  thearfore  let  him  know  what  I  have. 
First,  the  3  Books  of  Martters,  Erasmus,  moste  of  Perkins,  Wil- 
sons Dixtionare,  a  large  Concordiance,  Mayor  on  the  new  Tste- 
ment;  Some  of  theas,  with  othar  that  I  have,  may  be  vcefull 
to  him. 5^ 

When  William  Tyng,  merchant,  died  in  1653,  leaving  the 
largest  estate  recorded  up  to  that  time  (totaling  £2774.14.04), 
part  of  the  estate  comprised,  according  to  the  inventory, 
"  Books  as  per  schedule  valued  at  010  00  00. "s^    The  schedule 

"'Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Collections,  3rd  Series,  iv.  128. 
5°  New  England  Historical  and  Genealogical  Register,  xxxvi.  371. 
5'  Ibid.,  xviii.  175. 

s^  Ibid.,  xix.  247,  and  Maine  Historical  Society,  Collections  and  Proceedings,  2d 
Series,  iii.  293  fF. 

5J  Winthrop  Papers,  ii.  59. 

5"  Publications  of  the  Colonial  Society  of  Massachusetts,  xiii.  289. 


38        Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

lists  nearly  one  hundred  books,  mostly  in  quarto,  including 
the  following:" 

Bookes  of  Martyrs  in  3  volumes 

Books  of  Statutes  at  Large 

The  Survey  of  London 

Speeds  Chronicle 

Camdens  Britannia 

Marchants  Accompts 

Gecords  Herball^^ 

Treatise  of  Magistracy — two 

Enonimous  Tresure 

Apeale  to  Parliament 

Janua  Linguarum 

a  Duch  Worke 

Circkle  of  Comerse 

abridgm*  of  Camden 

Singin  Psalemes 

office  of  executors 

Imposts  &  customes 

logick  &  Rethoricke 

16  Ciceroas  orations 

Interest  States  &  kingdomes 

The  will  of  Nicholas   Busby,   September    10,    1657,   be- 
queathed 

vnto   my    two   Sonns  JoJm  Busby    &    Abraham^    my    printed 
bookes,  in  manner  following; 
to  John 

all  my  Phisicke  bookes,  as 

Glendall  practice, 

Barrow es  method, 

Dutch  Phisicke  &  garden  of  health 

Mr  Coggans  treatis,  and 

the  Dialogue  of  Phisicke  Surgery,  with 

Plinnys  Naturall  Hystory 

«  New  England  Historical  and  Genealogical  Register,  xxx.  432. 
5'  Probably  an  error  for  Gerarde's. 


Libraries  and  the  Circulation  of  Books.         39 

Vnto  Abraham, 

my  bookes  of  Divinitie,  vizt. 

M^  Perkins 

M''  Willet  sinops  and  Comentary  on  the  Romans,  & 

M""  \sic\  Hieroms  two  bookes; 

as  for  the  rest  of  my  bookes  of  divinities,  or  Hystory,  my  desire 
is,  they  may  Loveingly  &  Brotherly  devide  them  betweene  except 
the  three  Bibles." 

Governor  Thomas  Dudley,  dying  the  same  year,  left  a  small 
but  interesting  collection  of  books,  including  in  parted* 

General  History  of  Netherlands 

Turkish  History 

Livius 

Camden:  Annale  Regnante  Eliza 

Commentaries  of  the  wars  in  France 

Buchanan:  Scot  Hystory 

Abstract  of  Penal  Statutes 

Vision  of  Pierc  Plowman^^ 

Apology  of  ye  Prince  of  Orange 

Baynes:  Letters 

Swedish  Intelligencer 

Mantuanii  Bucolica  [■Virgil] 

The  book  of  Laws 

8  French  books 

Several  pamphlets 

New  books 

Smalle  writings^" 

While  individual  libraries  were  slowly  growing  by  impor- 
tations and  gifts  from  England  and,  from  as  early  as  1647, 

"  New  England  Historical  and  Genealogical  Register,  viii.  279. 

5'  Ibid.,  xii.  355. 

"This  is  perhaps  the  most  curious  item  in  all  the  lists  of  colonial  books.  It 
would  cast  much  light  upon  colonial  culture  if  we  could  know  how  he  came  to 
own  such  a  volume,  and  whether  he  ever  read  it.  The  latest  edition  he  could  have 
had  is  that  of  1561. 

'"  The  last  three  items  are  typical  of  the  vagueness  of  many  of  the  comparatively 
few  book  records  preserved.     Complete  lists  would  add  much  to  our  knowledge. 


40        Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

by  purchase  in  the  shop  of  Hezekiah  Usher,^'  the  Harvard 
College  library  was  also  growing  from  its  beginning  in  the 
Ames  library  and  the  320  volumes  left  by  John  Harvard,*^ 
Roger  Harlakenden,  dying  in  1638,  willed  "to  the  librarye 
ten  pownds  &  all  my  books  w'^''  are  not  usefull  for  my  wife."^^ 
The  first  notable  increase  was  the  gift  by  the  magistrates  in 
1642  of  books  from  their  own  libraries  to  the  value  of  £200. "^^ 
If  the  appraisal  of  William  Tyng's  library  of  nearly  100 
volumes  at  £10  were  any  criterion/^  this  must  have  meant 
a  great  addition;  but  doubtless  a  majority  of  these  books 
were  large  and  expensive  theological  folios,  which  would 
proportionately  lessen  the  number  of  books  added.  There 
was  still  need  for  many  more  books,  for  we  find  President 
Dunster  writing  in  1645, 

Seeing  the  public  library  in  the  College  is  yet  defective  in  all 
manner  of  books,  specially  in  law,  physics,  philosophy,  and  mathe- 
matics, the  furnishing  whereof  would  be  both  honorable  and 
profitable  to  the  country  in  general  and  in  special  to  the  scholars, 
whose  various  inclinations  to  all  professions  might  thereby  be  en- 
couraged and  furthered;  we  therefore  humbly  entreat  to  use  such 
means  as  your  wisdom  shall  think  meet  for  supply  of  the  same.^* 

I   have   found  no  record  of  any  results   from   this  plea. 

''  In  1647  Usher  is  referred  to  in  Aspinwall's  Notarial  Book  as  "Hezekiah  Usher 
of  Boston,  bookseller."  (Littlefield,  Early  Boston  Booksellers,  p.  67.)  Samuel 
Danforth's  Almanac  for  1647  bears  the  imprint,  "Cambridge  printed  by  Mathew 
Daye;  and  to  be  sold  by  Hezekiah  Usher,  at  Boston."  (Thomas,  History  of 
Printing,  i.  48  note.) 

'^  Mr.  Julius  H.  Tuttle,  of  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  thinks  that  it 
may  be  inferred  that  the  gratuity  to  Mrs.  Ames  from  the  General  Court  was  in 
recognition  of  the  use  of  the  Ames  library  by  the  students  of  Harvard,  and  that 
a  somewhat  similar  grant  to  the  widow  of  the  Rev.  Jose  Glover  may  indicate  that 
his  library  was  also  used  by  the  college  just  as  his  printing  press  was  established 
in  connection  with  it.  (Publications  of  the  Colonial  Society  of  Massachusetts, 
xiv.  65,  66  note.) 

^i  New  England  Historical  and  Genealogical  Register,  ii.  182. 

^*  Chaplin,  Life  of  Dunster,  p.  78. 

*5  See  p.  37,  above. 

^  Chaplin,  Life  of  Dunster,  p.  80.  The  letter  was  addressed  to  the  Commis- 
sioners of  the  United  Colonies  of  New  England. 


Libraries  and  the  Circulation  of  Books.         41 

But  books  were  being  added  by  gifts  both  at  home  and 
from  England.  Joshua  Scottow,  of  Boston,  presented 
"Henry  Stephen  his  Thesaurus  in  foure  vokimes  in  foHo" 
with  a  curious  proviso.*'  Sir  Kenelme  Digby,  scientist  and 
man  of  letters,  in  spite  of  his  leanings  toward  Catholicism, 
twice  sent  books  to  the  young  Puritan  college,**  perhaps  in- 

*'  Chaplin,  Life  of  Dunster,  p.  79.  The  proviso  follows.  "Thes  p'^sents  witness^, 
that  wheras  Joshuah  Scottow,  of  Bosto,  march*^,  hath  of  his  owne  free  accord  pro- 
cured for  the  library  of  Harvard  Colle[ge]  Henry  Stephen  his  Thesaurus,  in  foure 
volumes  in  folio,  and  bestowe[d]  the  same  thereon:  it  is  on  this  condicon,  and 
w  this  p[ro]mise  following  that  if  ever  the  said  Joshuah,  during  his  life  shall 
have  occasion  to  use  the  said  booke,  or  any  parcell  thereof,  he  shall  have  free 
liberty  thereof,  and  accesee  thereto:  and  if  God  shall  blesee  the  said  Joshuah 
w''''  any  child  or  childre  that  shal  be  students  of  the  Greeke  tongue,  the  the 
said  bookes  above  specifyed  shalbee  unto  them  delivered,  in  case  that  they  will 
not  otherwise  be  satisfyed  w'^^'out  it."  Dated  October  28,  1649.  Thus  were 
books  esteemed!  It  might  be  assumed  from  this  that  Scottow,  although  there  is 
no  record  that  he  was  a  university  man,  read  Greek;  if  not,  why  should  he 
reserve  such  a  privilege?  He  certainly  knew  French,  for  he  translated  The  Rise, 
Spring  and  Foundation  of  the  Anabaptists,  or  Re-baptized  of  our  Time.  Writ- 
ten in  French  by  Guy  de  Brez,  1565 And  Translated  for  the  use  of  his 

Countrymen,  by  J.  S.  [Joshua  Scottow]  Cambridge:  Printed,  and  to  be  Sold  by 
Marmaduke  Johnson.  1668.  (Green,  Early  American  Imprints  in  Massachusetts 
Historical  Society,  Proceedings,  2d  Series,  ix.  424.) 

A  later  item,  undated,  in  the  College  Records  shows  that  he  availed  himself 
of  his  reserved  privilege.     (College  Book  I,  260.) 

"Recev^  of  NP  Vryan  Oakes  p'^s[ident]  y*^  above  Expressed    Thesaurus    in 

foure  volumes  acc'^ding  to  Condition  above:  upon  the  demand  of  my  sonn  Thomas 

Scottow  I  say  received  p"^  me  this  30'*^  of  August 

Josh:  Scottow" 

Urian  Oakes  was  president,  acting  or  official,  from  1675  ^^  168 1.  As  in  1682 
Cotton  Mather  includes  a  copy  of  this  Thesaurus  in  a  list  of  books  which  he  had 
purchased  from  the  duplicates  in  the  Harvard  Library,  either  the  Scottows  soon 
returned  their  set,  or  two  others  were  presented  to  the  library.  (Ms.  list  in  Ma- 
ther's handwriting  in  possession  of  the  American  Antiquarian  Society.)  Thomas 
Scottow  graduated  from  Harvard  in  1677. 

**  Winslow,  New  England's  Salamander  Discovered.  1647.  Massachusetts 
Historical  Society,  Collections,  3rd  Series,  ii.  117.  "As  for  Doctor  Childe  hee 
is  a  gentleman  that  hath  travelled  other  parts  before  hee  came  to  us,  namely 

Italy;    ....    he  tooke  the  degree  of  Doctor  in  Physick  at  Padua Hee 

comes  [to  New  England]  a  second  time,  and  not  onely  bestoweth  some  bookes  on 

the  Colledge,  as  Sir  Kenelme  Digby  and  many  others  commendably  did " 

In  1654  Hugh  Peter  wrote  from  London  to  John  Winthrop,  Jr.,  "I  haue  sent 
you  2  peeces  of  black  stuffe  .  .  .  .  all  by  the  hand  of  Mr.  Norton  of  Boston,  in 
a  great  chest  of  bookes  sent  agayne  by  Sir  Kenelme  Digby,  who  longs  for  you 
here."     (Winthrop  Papers,  i.  116.) 


42        Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

fluenced  by  his  acquaintance  with  John  Winthrop,  Jr/' 
There  are  two  references  in  the  College  Records  to  Sir 
Kenelme's  gifts.  In  College  Book  I  there  is  a  list  of  seven- 
teen titles,  mostly  church  fathers,  given  by  him  in  1655.'° 
In  College  Book  III,  p.  31,  under  the  date  1659,  are  men- 
tioned several  gifts  to  the  college,  the  first  item  being  "S^ 
Kenelme  Digby  gave  to  s'^  Colledges  Library,  as  many  books 
as  were  vallued  at  Sixty  pound."  It  is  impossible  to  tell 
whether  this  refers  to  both  gifts  together,  or  to  the  more 
recent. 

The  other  gifts  recorded  with  Sir  Kenelme's  are: 

S"^  Thomas  Temple  Knight,  gave  two  Globes  a  Caelestiall  &: 
Terrestrial!  to  s^  CoUedge. 

M"'  Thomas  Graves  gave  some  Mathematical!  Books  tow'^^  the 
furnishing  of  the  Library. 

M""  Ralfe  ffreck  gave  to  s*^  Library  Biblia  Polyglotta. 

M''  John  ffrecks  gave  some  Books  to  the  vallue  of  ten  pounds. 

M''  John  Winthrop  gave  toward  y*"  furnishing  s"^  Library  many 
choice  books  to  the  va!!ue  of  twenty  pounds. 

S""  Richard  Daniel  Knight  gave  many  books  to  the  Library. 

Two  undated  book-lists  in  College  Book  I  record  other 
gifts.''  One  is  a  list  of  twenty  titles  given  by  Richard 
Bellingham.  The  other  is  a  list  of  thirty-five  titles  given 
by  Peter  Bulkeley,  perhaps  at  his  death  in  1658,  but  probably 
earlier,  as  it  is  not  mentioned,  as  one  might  expect  it  would 
be,  in  the  1659  list  with  Sir  Kenelme  Digby's.  Two  other 
men    are   known    to   have   contributed  during   this   period, 

*»  See  end  of  note  68,  above.  Sir  Kenelme  wrote  to  John  Winthrop,  Jr.,  from  Paris, 
January  26,  1656  n.  s.,  "I  beseech  you  present  my  most  humble  thankes  to  the 
President  and  fellowes  of  y"^  college  for  the  obliging  Letter  they  haue  bin  pleased 
to  send  me.  So  small  a  present  as  j  presumed  to  make  them,  deserued  not  so  large 
a  returne."  (Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Collections,  3rd  Series,  x.  16.) 
Other  letters  among  the  Winthrop  Papers  testify  to  the  correspondence  between 
the  two.  See  i.  116,  ii.  588,  593;  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Collections, 
3rd  Series,  i.  183.     See  also  p.  66  fF.,  below. 

^°  Harvard  Library,  Bibliographical  Contributions,  No.  27,  p.  13. 

7'  UiJ.,  pp.  13,  14. 


Libraries  and  the  Circulation  of  Books.         43 

Dr.  Robert  Child^'  and  Ezekiel  Rogers."  In  the  inventory 
of  college  property  made  December  10,  1654,  at  the  time 
the  college  was  settling  accounts  with  Dunster,  who  had 
just  resigned  as  president,  the  "library  &  Books  therin" 
were  "vallued  at"  £400. '^ 

Before  the  Harvard  library  was  a  quarter  century  old  it 
had  a  rival  in  a  public  library  in  Boston.  Robert  Keayne, 
merchant,  suggested  in  his  will,  dated  August  i,  1653,  the 
erection  of  a  town-house  (apparently  a  combination  of  a 
town  hall  and  a  neighborhood  house)  which  should  contain 
a  market,  a  library  and  a  gallery,  rooms  for  divines  and 
scholars,  for  merchants,  for  strangers,  and  so  on,  should  his 
estate  prove  large  enough  to  provide  sufficient  funds  above 
his  bequests  to  his  family.  Of  his  own  books,  "all  English 
none  Lattine  or  Greeke,"  his  son  and  wife  were  to  take  their 
choice  "whether  Divinitie,  Hystory,  or  Milletary;"  the 
rest  were  to  be  looked  over  by  John  Wilson  and  John  Nor- 
ton, who  were  to  choose  out  for  his  town-house  library  all 
fit  books,  selling  any  others.  The  will  further  provided  that 
if  the  town-house  was  not  built  the  books  were  to  go  to 
Harvard."  As  the  estate  was  not  quite  large  enough,  a  sum 
of  £300  was  raised  by  subscription  and  the  building  begun 
in  1657.7^  Unfortunately  there  are  no  more  records  of  this 
library  for  fifteen  years,  either  in  regard  to  nature,  size,  or 
growth;  but  it  is  an  indication  of  the  culture  of  the  place 
that  such  an  institution  was  in  existence  thus  early  in  the 
history  of  the  colony,  and  partly  built  by  the  people  them- 
selves.    Of  its  subsequent  history  more  will  be  said  later." 

During  these  years  there  were  some  losses  of  books  by 

7'  See  p.  41  note  68,  above. 

"  New  England  Historical  and  Genealogical  Register,  v.  125,  and  p.  44,  below. 

'■»  College  Book  III,  p.  41. 

"  New  England  Historical  and  Genealogical  Register,  vi.  90.  The  will,  the 
abstract  of  which  covers  eleven  pages  of  the  Register,  the  will  itself  covering  158 
pages  of  the  original  record  of  Suffolk  County  Wills,  gives  striking  evidence  of  the 
originality  and  individuality  often  found  among  the  dissenters  and  Puritans. 

^^  Publications  of  the  Colonial  Society  of  Massachusetts,  xii.  120. 

"  See  pp.  132  ff.  and  179  ff.,  below. 


44        Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

fire.  Stephen  Bachiler  wrote  to  John  Winthrop,  May  i8, 
1644,  "1  haue  had  great  losse  by  fire,  well  knowne,  to  the 
vallue  of  200//.,  with  my  whole  studdy  of  bookes."^*  In 
1 65 1,  on  the  evening  of  his  third  wedding,  Ezekiel  Rogers 
lost  his  house  and  entire  library  by  fire."  In  1666  the 
Bradstreet  house  at  Andover  was  burned.  Simon  Bradstreet 
thus  records  the  loss  in  his  diary: 

July  12,  1666.     Whilst  I  was  at  N.  London  my  fathers  house 

at  Andover  was  burnt,  where  I  lost  my  books Tho:  rny 

own  losse  of  books  (and  papers  espec.)  was  great  and  my  fathers 
far  more  being  about  800,  yet  ye  Lord  was  pleased  ....  to 
make  up  ye  same  to  us.^" 

There  may  have  been  other  losses  of  which  record  is 
lost;*'  but  in  general  there  was  a  steady  increase  in  the 
number  of  books  in  New  England.  Simon  Bradstreet's  ref- 
erence above  to  the  making  up  of  the  lost  books,  and  the 
fact  that  Ezekiel  Rogers,  having  lost  his  entire  library  in 
1 65 1,  at  his  death  in  1660  was  able  to  bestow  upon  Harvard 
College  "his  books  wherewith  he  had  recruited  his  library, 
after  the  fire,  which  consumed  the  good  library  that  he  had 
brought  out  of  England," ^^^  including  Latin  books  valued  at 

7'  Winthrop  Papers,  ii.  107.  The  phrase  "whole  studdy  of  bookes"  would  seem 
to  imply  a  considerable  library. 

7»  Winthrop  Papers,  ii.  205  note.  New  England  Historical  and  Genealogical 
Register,  v.  124. 

*"  Ellis,  Works  of  Anne  Bradstreet,  Ixi. 

*'  The  house  of  Herbert  Pelham,  first  treasurer  of  Harvard,  was  burned  in  De- 
cember, 1640.  Mr.  Downing's  house  was  burned  in  April,  1645,  with  a  loss  of 
household  goods  to  the  value  of  £200.  The  same  week  the  house  of  John  Johnson 
of  Roxbury  was  totally  wrecked  by  a  fire  and  the  explosion  of  gunpowder  stored 
therein.  (Winthrop's  Journal,  passim.)  At  the  burning  of  Springfield  by  the 
Indians  in  1674,  "thirty-two  houses,  and  amongst  the  rest,  the  minister's  with 
his  well-furnished  library,  were  consumed."  (Magnalia,  ii.  565.)  The  library  of 
William  Blackstone,  formerly  of  Boston,  was  destroyed  during  King  Philip's  War, 
when  his  house  at  Lonsdale,  R.  I.,  was  burned  by  the  Indians,  shortly  after  his 
death.  There  were  some  160  books  in  the  collection.  The  house  of  Increase 
Mather  was  burned  on  November  27,  1676.  (Massachusetts  Historical  Society, 
Proceedings,  2d  Series,  xiii.  373-374-) 

*^  Magnalia,  i.  412. 


Libraries  and  the  Circulation  of  Books.         45 

£47  and  some  of  his  English  books  to  the  value  of  £26, ^^ 
demonstrate  both  the  possibility  and  the  fact  of  considerable 
book-buying  within  forty  years  of  the  founding  of  Boston, 
Although  John  Johnson's  house  was  wrecked  by  fire  and 
explosion  in  1645,  ^'"^  ^^47  ^^  possessed  books  which  Richard 
Mather  was  glad  to  borrow. ^^  The  church  in  Hartford,  in- 
viting Jonathan  Mitchel  to  succeed  Thomas  Hooker,  who 
died  in  1647,  as  pastor,  promised  that  they  would  "imme- 
diately upon  his  acceptance  of  their  invitation,  advance  a 
considerable  sum  of  money,  to  assist  him  in  furnishing  him- 
self with  a  library. "*s  The  books  were  evidently  to  be  pro- 
cured in  Boston  before  he  left  for  Hartford.  Thomas  May- 
hew,  writing  to  John  Winthrop,  Jr.,  of  his  son,  Thomas 
Mayhew,  missionary  to  the  Indians  of  Martha's  Vineyard 
and  Nantucket,  who  was  lost  at  sea  in  1657  while  on  his 
way  to  England,  said,  "He  allso  hath  had  of  the  Commis- 
sioners in  all,  besides  his  books,  160//.,  his  bookes  were 
37//.,  as  I  take  it."*^  It  is  not  clear  whether  books  to  that 
value  had  been  sent  from  England,  or  whether  the  money 
had  been  sent  to  buy  books  in  Boston.  In  either  case  there 
is  evidence  that  the  colonists  found  it  possible  to  procure 
books  in  considerable  numbers.^'' 

Books,  largely  gifts,  continued  to  come  from  friends  in 
England.  John  Winthrop,  Jr.,  wrote  to  Robert  Child, 
March  23,  1648-9, 

I  am  glad  to  heare  of  those  bookes  coming  forth,  Paullin  and 

*J  Publications  of  the  Colonial  Society  of  Massachusetts,  xii.  49. 

*••  See  p.  44  note  81,  above,  and  p.  57,  below. 

«s  Magnalia,  ii.  88. 

^  Winthrop  Papers,  ii.  35. 

*'  Although  Hezekiah  Gay,  who  died  in  1669,  seems  to  have  had  but  two  books 
to  will  ("give  my  mother,  Mr.  Burrowes'  Book  and  my  sister  Whiting  that  new 
book  concerning  Thomas  Savage,"  New  England  Historical  and  Genealogical 
Register,  xlviii,  324,)  one  of  them  had  been  published  within  a  year:  Gods  Justice 
Against  Murther,  or  the  bloudy  Apprentice  executed.  Being  an  exact  .... 
relation  of  a  bloudy  murther  committed  by  one  T.  Savage  ....  in  Ratcliffe 
upon  the  maid  of  the  house  his  fellow  servant.  London,  1668.  Cf.  Publications 
of  the  Colonial  Society  of  Massachusetts,  xx.  237-239. 


46        Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

Propugnaculi  Fabri,  and  Helmonts  workes,  but  how  to  be  certaine 
to  procure  the  I  know  not,  except  you  please  to  doe  me  the  favour 
to  send  for  the  where  they  are  to  be  had,  and  desire  M"^  Peters, 

or  my  brother  in  my  name  to  lay  out  the  price  for  me I 

desire  also  y'  in  high  Duch,  Glauberus,  if  you  approve  of  it,  and 
one  more  I  desire  you  earnestly  to  procure  for  me;  that  is  Vigineere 
des  Cyphres  w"^"^  you  know  is  to  be  had  at  Paris;  ....  I  would 
have  one  in  this  country  before  the  impression  be  quite  worn  out.** 

Stephen  Winthrop  wrote  from  England  in  1649  ^°  ^^^ 
brother,  John  Winthrop, 

.  .  .  .  y'^  rest  voted  the  triall  of  the  King,  who  is  since  be- 
headed, ....  but  I  canot  inlarg  to  pticuler,  passingers  & 
bookes  will  informe  best.     I  shall  send  my  father  some."*' 

Richard  Saltonstall  wrote  to  President  Dunster  from  Eng- 
land where  he  was  visiting, 

This  enclosed  booke  I  must  entreate  you  to  accept  insteade  of 
such  lines  as  I  should  have  added. ^^ 

Roger  Williams  wrote,  February  21,  1656, 

Sir  Henry  Vane  being  retired  to  his  owne  private  in  Lincolnshire 
hath  now  published  his  observations  as  to  religion,  he  hath  sent  me 
one  of  his  books. '^ 

John  Eliot  wrote  to  Mr.  Hord,  October  8,  1657, 

.  .  .  likewise  I  did  receive  a  smal  packet  of  books  from  Mr. 
Jessy  according  to  Mr.  Jessy's  appointment. '^ 

John  Davenport  wrote  to  the  younger  John  Winthrop, 
August  19,  1659, 

*^  Winthrop  Papers,  iv.  41.  "Vigineere  des  Cyphres"  is  the  Traite  des  Chiffres 
of  Bhiise  de  Vigenere. 

*'  Ibid.,  p.  209. 

9"  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Collections,  4th  Series,  ii.  194.  The  letter 
is  undated,  but  marked  as  received  May  15,  1651. 

9'  Ibid.,  3rd  Series,  x.  19. 

»^  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Proceedings,  xvii.  246.  Mr.  Hord  was 
treasurer  of  the  Corporation  for  Spreading  the  Gospel  among  the  Indians.  Mr. 
Jessy  was  a  minister  in  Southwark,  England. 


Libraries  and  the  Circulation  of  Books.         47 

I  have  received  letters  &  bookes,  &  written  papers  from  my  an- 
cient &  honored  freinds  Mr.  Hartlib,  &  Mr.  Durie,  wherein  I  finde 
sundry  rarities  of  inventions  ....  which  I  long  for  an  oppor- 
tunitie  to  communicate  to  your  selfe  ....  They  are  too  many 
to  be  transmitted  unto  you  by  passengers.'-' 

The  next  year  he  wrote,  July  20, 

Sir,  I  humbly  thanck  you  for  the  Intelligence  I  received  in  your 
letters,  and  for  the  2  weekly  Intelligences,  which  Brother  Myles 
brought  me."' 

A  few  days  later  he  wrote  again  (August  11), 

M''  Hartlib  ....  hath  sent  also  sundry  wrightings,  and 
bookes,  some  to  your  selfe,  some  to  me  .  .  .  .  M"^  Drury  also 
hath  sent  some  papers  and  bookes  to  the  2  Teaching  Elders  at 
Boston,  and  to  me.'^ 

Samuel  Hartlib  wrote  to  John  Winthrop,  Jr.,  in  1661, 

....  Mr.  Davinport,  to  whom  I  cannot  write  for  the  present, 
but  have  sent  him  by  these  ships  a  smal  Packet  directed  to  his 
name  with  a  Book  or  two  of  the  Bohemian  Ch-Government,  & 

some  Prophetical  Papers Some  weekes  agoe  I  sent  you 

the  Systeme  of  Saturne  with  all  the  Cuts,  being  Mr.  Brereton's 
gift  ....  Hevelii  Selenographia  in  fol.  with  excellent  Cuts  is 
no  more  to  bee  had  ....  Mr.  Morian  promised  to  send  mee  for 
you  all  the  Glauberian  Tracts  with  some  other  w*"^  are  counted 
truer  Adepts. '"^ 

In  the  same  letter  in  which  he  urged  John  Winthrop,  Jr., 
to  write  a  "philosophical  letter"  to  the  Royal  Society," 
Henry  Oldenburg,  Secretary  of  the  Society,  wrote, 

The  Bearer  hereof  will  doubtlesse  give  you  the  use  of  y'=  printed 

93  Winthrop  Papers,  ii.  504.     For  Mr.  Hartlib  see  p.  70,  below. 

M  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Collections,  3rd  Series,  x.  36. 

95  Ibid.,  p.  38. 

9*  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Proceedings,  ist  Series,  xvi.  212.  It  should 
be  noted  that  this  one  letter  mentions  three  different  people  as  sending  books 
to  New  England. 

97  See  p.  72,  below. 


48        Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

History  of  y^  R.  Society;'^  by  w'^'^  you  will  find  what  progres  they 
have  made  hitherto  ....  I  presume  to  transmit  you  some  of 
the  Transactions  I  monthly  publish. '' 

He  wrote  again  in  1669, 

My  letter,  recommended  to  y*  s'^  Stuyvesand  [Peter]  for  you, 
was  accompanied  w"'  an  Exemplar  of  the  History  of  y^  R.  Society, 

and  w^''  some  of  the  Philosophical!  Transactions I  send 

you  herew"'  a  Printed  paper,  w'^^  contains  y^  predictions  of  Mf 
Bond  for  the  variations  of  y^  Needle  for  several  years  to  come  .  .  . 
you  will  take  notice  .  .  .  how  the  variation  varies  in  New  Eng- 
land."'° 

John  Eliot  v^^rote  in  1670  to  Robert  Boyle  of  "that  worthy 
gift,  which  your  honour  is  pleased  to  bestow  upon  me,  viz. 
Pool's  Synopsis,  or  Critica  Sacra.""'  Presumably  these 
are  but  chance  records  saved  and  indicate  what  must  have 
been  a  general  custom. 

Books  constantly  came  in  with  visitors  or  settlers  from 
England,  sometimes  against  the  will  of  the  government  of 
the  Colony.  Upon  the  introduction  of  certain  Quaker  books, 
the  General  Court  voted,  x'\ugust  22,  1654: 

It  is  ordred,  that  all  &  euery  the  inhabitants  of  this  jurisdiction 
that  haue  any  of  the  bookes  in  their  custody  that  haue  lately  bin 
brought  out  of  England  vnder  the  names  of  John  Reeues  &  Lodo- 
wick  Muggleton  ....  &  shall  not  bring  or  send  in  all  such 
bookes  now  in  their  custody,  to  the  next  magistr,  shall  forfeit  the 
sume  often  pounds  for  euery  such  booke  that  shalbe  found.  .  .  .  '"^ 

William  Baker,  brought  before  the  Middlesex  Court  in 
1657,  denied  the  possession  of  any  Quaker  books,  saying 
that  he  disliked  those  which  he  had  seen  and  had  burned 

'*  By  Bishop  Sprat. 

"  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Proceedings,  ist  Series,  xvi.  230.  Dated 
October  13,  1667. 

""  Ibid.,  p.  239.     Received  May  6,  1669. 

'■"  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Collections,  ist  Series,  iii.  177. 

""  Massachusetts  Records,  iii.  356. 


Libraries  and  the  Circulation  of  Books.         49 

them.'"^  In  1662  action  was  brought  against  Captain  Robert 
Lord  for  bringing  in  Ann  Coleman  of  the  "cursed  sect," 
who  "came  furnished  w"*  many  blasphemous  &  haeretticall 
bookes,  which  she  had  spread  abroad.""^ 

Reference  to  the  wills  and  inventories  of  the  time  (some 
of  which  have  already  been  quoted)  shows  not  only  the 
presence  of  many  collections  of  books,  large  and  small 
(chiefly  the  latter),  but  a  keen  appreciation  of  their  value. 
Edward  Tench,  of  New  Haven,  died  in  1640,  leaving  a 
library  of  53  volumes,  appraised  at  £12.10.00  out  of  a  total 
estate  of  £400.'"^  John  Tey,  in  164I,  ordered  his  books  to  be 
kept  for  his  son  in  the  hands  of  "Mr.  Eliote,  Teacher  of 
Roxburye."'"^  John  Oliver,  the  same  year,  mentioned  among 
his  possessions  books  and  geometrical  instruments. '"^  In 
1644  Israel  Stoughton  willed 

to  Sonne  Israel  one  fourth  part  of  smale  Library,  &  vnto  John 
another  fourth  pt,  &  unto  W"  the  other  halfe,  for  his  incouragm' 
to  apply  himself  to  studies  ....  Provided  also,  concerning  the 
Bookes,  that  my  wife  retaine  to  her  vse  during  life  what  she 
pleaseth,  &  that  my  daughters  chose  each  of  them  one  for  theire 
owne,  that  all  may  haue  something  they  may  call  theire  ffathers.'*"* 

George  Phillips,  minister  of  the  church  at  Watertown,  died 
July  I,  1644,  leaving  a  "study  of  bookes"  valued  at  £71. 9. 9.^9 
William  Brinsmade,  in  1647,  left  to  his  son  all  his  books."" 
In  the  same  year  Thomas  Hooker  left  books  appraised  at 
£300.'"  John  Cotton's  will,  dated  November  9,  1652, 
states, 

"3  Middlesex  Court  Records,  i.  145.  Quoted  in  Duniway,  Freedom  of  the  Press, 
p.  37  note. 

"*  Massachusetts  Records,  iv.  part  2,  55.  Duniway,  Freedom  of  the  Press, 
p.  37  note. 

"5  Proceedings  of  the  American  Antiquarian  Society,  xviii.  137. 

106  New  England  Historical  and  Genealogical  Register,  ii.  105. 

"7  Ibid.,  iii.  266. 

"^  Ibid.,  iv.  51. 

'"9  Mullinger,  The  University  of  Cambridge,  iii.  176  note  3. 

""  New  England  Historical  and  Genealogical  Register,  iii.  266,  267. 

"'  Palfrey,  History  of  New  England,  ii.  45. 


5©        Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

My  books  I  estimate  to  y*"  value  of  150  1.  (though  they  cost  me 
much  more)  and  because  they  are  of  vse  only  to  my  two  sonnes, 
Seaborne  i3  John,  therefore  I  giue  them  unto  them  both,  to  be 
devided  by  equal  portions.'" 

John  Ward  wrote  in  his  will,  December  28,  1652, 

My  bookes  I  doe  give  to  Thomas  Andrews  of  Ipswich,  and  allso 

my  chirurgery  chest  and  all  that  is  now  in  it."^ 

John  Lothrop,  of  Barnstable,  who  died  August  10,  1653, 
left  his  books  to  his  children,  in  order  of  age,  as  they  might 
choose,  the  rest  to  "bee  sold  to  any  honest  man  whoe  can 
tell  how  to  make  use  of  them.""4  Books  were  mentioned  in 
the  will  of  Thomas  Rucke,  Jr.,  about  1653."^  Daniel  Maud, 
of  Dover,  N.  H.,  wrote  in  his  will,  January  17,  1654, 

what  few  books  I  have  I  leave  [to  my  successor]  for  the  use  and 
benefit  of  such  a  one  as  may  be  fit  to  have  improvement,  especially 
of  those  in  the  Hebrew  tongue;  but  in  case  such  a  one  be  not  had, 
to  let  them  go  to  som  of  the  next  congregation  as  York  or  Hamp- 
ton: except  one  boke  titled  "Dei  [illegible]  w*"^  I  woul  have  left 
for  Cambridge  library,  and  my  little  Hebrew  bible  for  Mr.  Brock.^^^ 

In  the  inventory  of  the  estate  of  Nathaniel  Rogers,  pastor 
at  Ipswich,  taken  August  16,  1655,  books  were  listed  at 
£100  out  of  a  total  estate  of  £1497."'  Peter  Bulkeley  be- 
queathed the  following  books,  April  I4,  1658:"* 

to  Sonne  John,      Mr.   Cartwright  upon  the  Rhemish  testament 

&  Willets  Sinopsis 
to  Sonne  Joseph,  Mr.  Hildersham  upon  the  one  &  fiftieth  psalme 

History  of  the   Councell  of  Trent    in    English 

Cornelius  Tacitry  [!]  in  English 

Mr.  Bolton  on  Gen.  6 

"^  New  England  Historical  and  Genealogical  Register,  v.  240. 

"3  Ibid.,  xxii.  32. 

"4  Ihid.,  V.  260. 

"5  Ibid.,  V.  295. 

"''New  England  Historical  and  Genealogical  Register,  v.  241. 

"'  Records  and  Files  of  the  Quarterly  Courts  of  Essex  County,  iii.  232. 

"'  New  England  Historical  and  Genealogical  Register,  x.  167. 


Libraries  and  the  Circulation  of  Books.  5  i 

[to  others]  Dr.  Twisse  against  the  Arminians 

Mr.   Rutherfords  treatise  upon   the  woman  of 

Canaan 
Mr.  Rutherfords  upon  the  dying  of  Christ 
Rutherford  upon  John  12 

Mr.  Cooper  on  the  8th  chapter  to  the  Romans 
Mr.  Dike  on  Jeremiah  17th 
to  Sonne  Edward,  All  Piscators  Commentaries  on  the  bible 

Dr.  Willett  on  Exod.  &  Levitt,  on  Sam.  i.  2.  & 

on  Daniell 
Tarnovius  in  2  vollums  upon  prophetas  minores 
Dr.  Owen,  against  the  Arminians    .... 
One  part  of  the  English  anotations   upon   the 

bible,  the  other  part  to  be  to  my  Son  Gershom 
Mr.  Aynsworth  notes  upon  the  5  books  of  Moses 

&  upon  the  psalmes. 

Bulkeley's  library  was  appraised  at  £123. "«  In  1658  Ralph 
Partridge  left  a  collection  of  420  volumes  valued  in  his 
inventory  at  £32.09.00.""  The  library  of  John  Norton,  ac- 
cording to  the  inventory  of  April  24,  1663,  contained  159 
books  in  folio,  valued  at  £187.19,  and  570  smaller  books 
valued  at  £1 1 2.1,  or  a  total  value  of  £300."'  The  same  year 
Samuel  Stone  left  books  valued  at  £127."-'  John  Wilson,  in 
1667,  wrote  in  his  will, 

To  my  son,  John  Wilson^  I  give  all  my  old  Bookes  and  my  new 
Bookes  lately  bought  of  Mr.  Usher  or  of  any  others  in  New  Eng- 
land."^ 

"»  Proceedings  of  the  American  Antiquarian  Society,  xviii.  I40. 

^^^  Ibid.,  p.  141. 

m  New  England  Historical  and  Genealogical  Register,  xi.  344. 

"'  Palfrey,  History  of  New  England,  ii.  45. 

"3  New  England  Historical  and  Genealogical  Register,  xvii.  343.  Other  wills 
might  be  quoted  in  this  connection,  from  Edward  Holyoke's,  1658,  referring  to 
a  considerable  library,  "As  for  my  books  and  wrightings,  I  giue  my  sonn  Holyoke 
all  the  books  that  are  at  Linn  ....  and  the  bookes  I  haue  in  my  study  that 
are  Mr  Beanghans  works  I  giue  him  ....  and  my  dixinary  ....  and  A 
part  of  the  New  testament  in  Folio,  with  wast  paper  betwin  euery  leafe,  and  the 
greate  mapps  of  geneolagy, "  {Ibid.,  ix.  345),  to  such  as  John  Coggan's  careful 
bestowal  of  his  single  book:  "My  booke  of  Martires  I  giue  vnto  my  sonne  Caleb, 
my  dau.  Robinson  &  my  dau.  Rocke,  the  Longest  Liuer  of  them,  to  enjoy  the 


52        Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

The  library  of  John  Davenport  was  inventoried  in  1670  at 
£233. "4 

One  excellent  indication  of  the  kind  of  library  to  be  found 
in  the  colonies  toward  the  end  of  this  period  is  given  in  a 
manuscript  list  of  his  books  made  out  by  Increase  Mather 
in  1664,  from  which  the  following  titles  are  selected:"* 

Milton  Defence  of  Smectymnuus 

Milton  defensio  Populi  Anglicani 

Fuller  Lives  of  Fathers 

Fuller  Lives  of  Englands  Worthyes 

Herbert  Poems'^^ 

Camden  [No  title  given;  probably  Britannia] 

Camden  Remaynes 

Verulamus  de  Augmentis  scientiarum 

Februn  [?]  Body  of  Chymistry 

Alstedii  encyclopaedia 

Child  History  of  VValdenses 

Prideux  Introduction  to  History 

de  Laet  America  descriptio 

Sands  his  Traveles 

Purchases  Pilgrimage 

Rerum  Anglicarum  Scriptores  post  Bedam 

Bacon  Natural  History 

Howes  History  of  England 

Mortons  History  of  New  England 

Raleigh  The  Prerogative  of  Parliaments 

Burtons  Pryns  and  Bastwicks  Trial 

Sr.  H.  V[ane's]  Trial 

same  wholly" — in  the  meantime  they  were  to  divide  it  as  they  best  could.  [Ibid., 
ix.  36).  Many  wills  simply  mention  books,  from  which  no  deductions  as  to  size 
can  be  made;  but  the  almost  general  reference  to  books  in  the  wills  emphasizes 
the  reverence  in  which  they  were  held. 

"*  Palfrey,  History  of  New  England,  ii.  45. 

"5  Proceedings  of  the  American  Antiquarian  Society,  xx.  280. 

"^  In  the  New  England  Historical  and  Genealogical  Register,  xxvii.  347,  A.  E. 
Cutler  records  his  ownership  of  the  third  edition  of  Herbert's  "Priest  to  the  Temple; 
or,  the  Country  Parson,"  London,  1675,  which  contains  the  dated  Latin  autograph 
of  Increase  Mather:  Crescentius  Matherus,  1683.  This  cannot  be  the  same  volume 
as  the  one  in  the  1664  list;  evidently  he  had  two  volumes  of  Herbert's  poems  in 
1683,  or  had  given  away  the  earlier  one. 


Libraries  and  the  Circulation  of  Books.  53 

Against  Actors  showing  of  stage  plays 

Josephus  His  works 

\  Juvenal  et  cum  Lvbini  Commentar. 

^  Persius 

Plautus 

Senecae  Tragaed. 

Sophocles  Tragaed. 

Poetae  Minores 

Demosthenes  Orat. 

Horatius 

Ovidii  Amorum  Libri 

^sopi  Fabulae 

Lucani  dialog. 

Grotius  de  imperio  Majestatis 

Verstegan  English  Antiquities 

Another  interesting  list  of  books  is  that  given  in  the 
inventory  of  the  estate  of  Thomas  Grocer,  "stranger,"  who 
died  in  Roxbury  February  2,  1665.  Grocer  was  a  London 
trader  who  had  dealt  with  Barbados.  The  books  may  have 
been  his  private  library  but  were  more  likely  brought  as  a 
venture,  even  though  the  lack  of  duplicates  among  the  item- 
ized books  might  seem  to  support  the  first  theory.  The 
books  mentioned  by  title  number  202;  384  books  of  various 
sizes  are  given  as  a  single  item,  with  a  value  of  £28.16.00, 
and  similarly  "  120  sticht  bookes"  are  valued  at  £1.  Among 
the  titles  given  the  following  are  of  interest:"^ 

Burtons  Melancholy 

Journey  of  Fraunce 

a  Booke  of  Jests 

Character  of  King  Charles 

4  uolumes  of  poems  at  4s. 

Mountignes  Assayes 

Purchase  right  ordering  of  the  Bees 

Bancrofts  epigrammes 

Lilly  anatomye  of  witt 

Golden  remaines 

"'  Ford,  The  Boston  Book  Market,  p.  71  fF. 


54        Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

Epicures  Morals 

greens  farewell  to  Follye 

Relation  of  a  Uoyage  to  Guiana 

9  paper  Bookes  of  Manuscripts 

Hey  wood  [The  Hierarchie]  of  xA^ngells 

German  Dyet 

Treatise  of  Fruit  trees 

It  is  impossible  to  prove  that  the  colonists  had  as  large 
libraries  as  their  contemporaries  in  England,  or  as  they 
themselves  would  have  had  if  they  had  remained  in  England; 
but  the  evidence  given  above  would  seem  to  show  that  the 
early  settlers  did  not  suffer  for  books,  either  old  or  new, 
since  the  good  libraries  they  brought  with  them  were  con- 
stantly increased  by  importations.  Furthermore,  the  com- 
parative nearness  of  the  various  settlements  made  it  possible 
for  the  colonists  to  increase  their  range  of  reading  by  bor- 
rowing, or  to  assist  their  friends  by  lending.  Such  libraries 
as  that  of  John  Winthrop,  Jr.,  were  almost  circulating  libra- 
ries. The  following  extracts  from  colonial  letters  are 
characteristic. 

I  vmblie  pray  you  that  when  you  haue  perused  the  followinge 
treatise,  that  you  will  restore  it  to  mee  againe."* 

Lent  to  M'  Williams,  i8.  8,  my  blew  manusci^.,  my  relacon, 
the  brev'  of  Cambridge,  Nath.  Wiggins  Reasons,  &  the  printed 
relation  of  the  Martyrs. "' 

I  have  therefore  bene  bold  to  send  you  the  Medulla  and  the 
Magnalia  Dei.'^" 

By  this  bearer  ....  I  received  your  booke,  &  had  by  the 
same  returned  it,  but  that  I  desire  to  reade  it  ouer  once  more,  find- 
ing it  pleasant  &  profitable,  &  craue  the  sight  of  any  other  of  that 
subiect  at  your  leasure,  kindly  thancking  you  for  this  inclosed. '•*' 

'^^  John  Blackleach  to  John  Winthrop,  1637.     Winthrop  Papers,  ii.  149. 

"'  Thomas  Lechford,  Note-Book,  p.  4.  1638.  Mr.  Williams  is  probably  Roger 
Williams.     The  numbers  give  the  date,  October  i8th. 

'^o  Roger  Williams  to  John  Winthrop,  Jr.,  1645.  Massachusetts  Historical  So- 
ciety, Collections,  3rd  Series,  ix.  268. 

'i'  Roger  Williams  to  John  Winthrop,  Jr.,  1649.     Winthrop  Papers,  i.  267. 


Libraries  and  the  Circulation  of  Books.         55 

He  [Mr.  Caukin]  tells  me  of  a  booke  lately  come  ouer  in  Mr. 
Pynchon's  name,  wherein  is  some  derogation  to  the  blood  of 
Christ.  The  booke  was  therefore  burnt  in  the  Market  place  at 
Boston,  &  Mr.  Pynchon  to  be  cited  to  the  Court.  If  it  come  to 
your  hand,  I  may  hope  to  see  it.'^^ 

Dr.  Choyse  hath  none  of  the  bookes  mentioned  in  your  note."^ 

I  pray  you  to  read  &  returne  this  Jew.  I  haue  allso  an  answere 
to  him  by  a  good  plaine  man,  expounding  all  which  the  Jew  takes 
literally,  in  a  spirituall  way:  &  I  haue  (in  a  discourse  of  a  Knight 
(L'Estrange)  proving  Americans  no  Jewes)  another  touch  against 
him   ....   ^^4 

My  deere  Frend, — I  had  yours,  and  truly  doe  loue  you  hartily, 
though  I  haue  bin  some  tymes  troubled  at  my  busines  having  no 
returnes,  &  you  selling  my  house  for  20/,  &  lending  out  my  bookes 
&  things  &  sending  home  nothing  to  mee.'^^ 

I  send  you,  by  this  bearer,  such  books  of  Intelligence,  as  were 
sent  me.'^* 

I  would  now  (with  very  many  thanks)  have  returned  you  youre 
Jesuits  maxims  but  I  was  loath  to  trust  them  in  so  wild  a  hand, 
nor  some  tidings  which  I  have  from  England. '^^ 

Deare  S% — I  have  herewith  sent  you  two  of  a  sort  of  those  bookes 
I  promised  you;  to  the  intent  you  may  reserve  one  by  you,  and 
yet  pleasure  your  freinds  either  by  loane  or  gifte  with  the  other. 
I  have  also  sent  you  the  dementions  of  a  furnace  hearth.  But  I 
can  not  at  present  find  the  booke  it  is  in,  it  being  packed  away  in 
some  trunke  amongst  other  things.  I  shall  mynd  it,  and  send  it 
to  you  by  the  first  opportunity   .    .    .    .   '^* 

'J^  Roger  Williams  to  John  VVinthrop,  Jr.,  1650.     Ibid.,  i.  285. 

'"  John  Davenport  to  John  VVinthrop,  Jr.,  evidently  in  reply  to  a  request  for 
certain  books.     1654.     Ibid.,  ii.  488.  v 

'■51  Roger  Williams  to  John  Winthrop,  Jr.,  1654-5.     Ibid.,  i.  291. 

'35  From  Hugh  Peter,  then  living  in  England,  to  Charles  Gott,  deacon  of  Salem, 
evidently  his  agent.  This  library  was  circulating  too  freely  to  satisfy  its  owner! 
1654.     Winthrop  Papers,  i.  116. 

'36  John  Davenport  to  John  Winthrop,  Jr.,  1654-5.  Massachusetts  Historical 
Society,  Collections,  3rd  Series,  x.  7. 

w  Roger  Williams  to  John  Winthrop,  Jr.,  1655-6.  Ibid.,  p.  11.  The  "wild 
hand"  indicates  that  an  Indian  was  the  bearer. 

'3*  Richard  Leader  of  Piscataway  to  John  Winthrop,  Jr.,  1655.  Massachusetts 
Historical  Society,  Proceedings,  2d  Series,  iii.  192. 


56        Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

Sir)  I  thanck  you  for  the  2  bookes  you  sent  me  to  peruse,  which 
I  am  reading  dilligently.'^' 

I  am  much  obliged  vnto  your  Worshipp  that  at  last  you  were 
myndfull  of  me,  &  sent  the  boke  soe  much  desyred  by  goodman 
Staythrop,  by  which  I  haue  gott  much  satisfaction,'"" 

More  workes  of  the  same,  I  would  gladly  see  ....  I  pray 
you  parte  not  with  my  booke.'"' 

....  many  thancks  for  ...  .  the  Almanack,  which  I 
had  not  scene  before,  though,  since  my  receite  of  yours,  the  presi- 
dent of  the  Colledge  sent  me  one.'"^ 

The  booke  concerning  bees,  which  you  desired,  I  now  send  you, 
by  John  Palmer,  &  with  it  3  others,  viz.,  i.  An  Office  of  Address, 
2.  An  Invention  of  Engines  of  Motion,  3.  A  Discourse  for  divisions 

&  setting  out  of  Landes I  shall  add  unto  them  a  4th 

booke  in  8°,  called  Chymical,  Medicinal,  &  Chirurgical  Addresses. 
These  are  a  few  of  many  more  which  are  sent  to  me.  I  hoped  for 
an  opportunity  of  shewing  them  to  you  here,  &  shall  reserve  them 
for  you  til  a  good  opportunity.'"^ 

Sir,  I  humbly  thanck  you  for  the  Intelligence  I  received  in  your 
letters,  and  for  the  2  weekly  Intelligences,  which  Brother  Myles 
brought  me.'"" 

I  shall  send  the  an  answer  to  John  Nortons  booke  ....  if 
I  cann  procuer  it.'"^ 

I  make  bold  w'^  you  to  transmitt  by  your  hand  to  Colonell 
Temple  those  books  [illegible^  w"^  you  will  receive  heerw'*'  (want 
of  fitt  artists  heere  must  be  my  excuse  that  they  appeare  in  that 
dessolate  forme);  they  were  sent  me  before  winter,  from  the 
great   intelligence   of    Europe,    M"^    Samuell    Hartleb,    a    Germa 

wjohn  Davenport  to  John  Winthrop,  Jr.,  1655.  Massachusetts  Historical 
Society,  Collections,  3rd  Series,  x.  14. 

^"Jonathan  Brewster  to  John  Winthrop,  Jr.,  1656.  Winthrop  Papers,  ii.  72. 
The  book  referred  to  is  one  on  alchemy. 

^'"  Jonathan  Brewster  to  John  Winthrop,  Jr.,  1656.     Ibid.,  ii.  78,  81. 

^  John  Davenport  to  John  Winthrop,  Jr.,  1659.  Massachusetts  Historical  So- 
ciety, Collections,  3rd  Series,  x.  23. 

""3  John  Davenport  to  John  Winthrop,  Jr.,  1659.     Winthrop  Papers,  ii.  509. 

'""John  Davenport  to  John  Winthrop,  Jr.,  1660.  Massachusetts  Historical  So- 
ciety, Collections,  3rd  Series,  x.  36.  The  Intelligence  is  probably  the  London  In- 
telligencer. 

'"5  William  Coddington  to  John  Winthrop,  Jr.,  1660.    Winthrop  Papers,  ii.  287. 


Libraries  and  the  Circulation  of  Books.         57 

gentlema,  as  conteinig  something  of  novelty.  That  they  are  yet 
in  sheets  may  have  this  convenience,  that,  being  divers  distinct 
relations,  the  Govern'',  Mi'  Wilson,  &  M^  Norton  (if  there  be 
any  thing  worth  their  notice),  or  any  other  friends  he  please,  may 
have  the  pvsall  of  some  pts  \^illegible\  whiles  the  other  parts  are 
reading.""^ 

I  humbly  thank  your  Worship  for  your  last  present,  viz'  those 
printed  papers  of  Intelligence  referring  to  the  philosophical 
transactions  of  the  Royall  Society  of  the  Virtuosi:  I  did  accord- 
ing to  your  order  to  me  acquaint  M""  Danforth  of  Roxbury  and 
others  with  them;  the  communication  thereof  renders  us  all,  but 
especially  myself  greatly  indebted  unto  your  Honour. "i^ 

In  connection  w^ith  this,  mention  must  be  made  of  the  list 
in  his  own  handwriting  of  90  books  borrowed  by  Richard 
Mather  from  John  Johnson  and  William  Parks  of  **  Rocks- 
bury,"  January  10,  1647-8.  These  are  all  theological 
except  "Seneca  his  works."'''* 

Additional  information  in  regard  to  books  owned  or  read 
by  the  early  settlers  may  be  gained  from  a  study  of  their 
references  to  or  quotations  from  books.  Ezekiel  Rogers, 
in  his  epitaph  on  Thomas  Hooker,  written  about  1647, 
wrote  the  following -.'49 

America,  although  she  do  not  boast 

Of  all  the  gold  and  silver  from  that  coast, 

Lent  to  her  sister  Europe's  need  or  pride; 

(For  that  repaid  her,  with  much  gain  beside. 

In  one  rich  pearl,  which  Heaven  did  thence  afford. 

As  pious  Herbert  gave  his  honest  word;)    .... 

The   reference    is    evidently    to    the    passage    in  Herbert's 

'^^  John  Winthrop,  Jr.,  to  Thomas  Lake,  1661.     Ibid.,  iv.  73. 

'^'Thomas  Shepard  to  John  Winthrop,  Jr.,  1669.  Massachusetts  Historical  So- 
ciety, Collections,  3rd  Series,  x.  71. 

'^*  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Collections,  4th  Series,  viii.  76.  Johnson 
and  Parks  were  both  laymen,  and  yet  had  libraries  of  theological  books,  at  least, 
from  which  as  prominent  a  minister  as  Richard  Mather  found  it  worth  while  to 
borrow  books  in  considerable  numbers!     See  p.  45,  above. 

^»  Magnalia,  i.  351. 


58        Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

"Church  Militant"  beginning  at  line  235,  which  refers  to  the 
Puritan  movement  toward  America. '^o 

Governor  Bradford,  in  his  polemical  writings,  quotes  au- 
thorities freely,  and  sometimes  cites  authors  or  volumes 
which  are  not  mentioned  in  the  extant  lists  of  his  own  library 
or  any  contemporary  Plymouth  library.  Such  names  may 
furnish  a  clue  to  the  identity  of  some  of  the  uncatalogued 
books  in  his  library.  The  following  are  quoted,  some  more 
than  once. 


[Whittingham?] 

Baylie,  R. 
Cotton, 
Eusebius, 
Fulke, 

Robinson,  J., 
Robinson,  J., 
Speed, 
Taylor, 
Anderton,  L., 

Bale,  John, 
Barnes,  R., 
Beza, 
BuUinger, 
Burton,  H., 

Calvin, 


Fox, 

Gillespie,  G., 
Grosthead,  R., 


A   Brieff  discours  off  the  troubles  begonne  at 

Frankford    ....    1554.'^' 
A  Dissuasive  from  the  Errors  of  the  Time,  1645. 
Answer  to  Mr.  Baylie 
Ecclesiastical  History 
On  Romans  the  xi. 
Apology 

A  Justification  of  Separation 
Cloud  of  Witnesses 
The  Liberty  of  Prophesying,  i6^j.^^' 
The   Triple    Cord,   or   a   Treatise   proving   the 

Truth  of  the  Roman  Religion,  1633. 
Acts  of  English  Votaries 
On  the  Keyes 
Confessions 
Not  stated 
A   Vindication    of   Churches   commonly    called 

Independent,  1644 
Not  stated 

Centuries  of  Madgeburg 
Abridgment  of  Acts  and  Monuments 
Aaron's  Rod  Blossoming,  1646 
Not  stated 


's"  See  p.  137,  below. 

'5'  Quoted  in  the  Introduction  to  the  Ecclesiastical  History  of  the  Church  at 
Plymouth. 

'52  The  references  in  this  group  are  quoted  in  "A  Dialogue,  or  the  sum  of  a  Con- 
ference between  some  Young  Men  born  in  New  England  and  sundry  ancient  men 
that  came  out  of  Holland  and  Old  England,  Anno  Domini  1648." 


Libraries  and  the  Circulation  of  Books.  59 


Gualter,  R. 
Guicciardini, 

[?J 
Jacob,  H., 

Jewell,  J., 
Mantuanus, 
Peter  Martyr, 
Mornay,  Philip, 
Mornay,  Philip, 
Pareus, 

[?] 

Serres,  J., 

Socrates, 
Symson,  P., 
Tindall,  W., 
Vives,  Lud., 
Whetenhall, 
Whitgift, 
Whittaker, 
Willett,  A., 


On  Acts 

History  of  the  Wars  of  Italy 

An  Harmony  of  the  Confessions  of  Faith,  1643 

Attestation 

Not  stated 

Quotes  poetry 

Commonplaces 

Mysterie  of  Iniquity 

Fowre  Books  of  the  Institutions 

Commentary  on  Revelation,  1644 

The  Reasons  presented  by  the  Dissenting  Breth- 
ren against  certain  Propositions,  1648 

Generall  Historic  of  France,  1624  [English  edi- 
tion] 

Church  History 

Historic  of  the  Church 

Not  stated 

Edition  of  Augustine's  De  Civitate  Dei 

Discourse  on  the  Abuses  in  the  Church  of  Rome 

An  Answere  to  a  certain  Libell 

Not  stated 

Commentary  on  Jude.'" 


Richard  Mather  quoted  the  following :'54 

BuUinger,  Decad.  5,  Serm.  9. 

Ames,  Cases  of  Conscience,  i.  4,  C.  28.  Q.  i. 

Alsted,  Encyclopaedia,  p.  25 

Alsted,  de  Casibus,  c.  8.  reg.  3,  memb.  12 

Calvin,  Institutions,  (Several) 

Martin,  Loci  Communes,  Clas.  4,  c.  ii.  Q.  14 

'S3  References  in  this  group  are  quoted  in  "A  Dialogue  or  3d  Conference,  between 
some  yonge-men  borne  in  New-England;  and  some  Ancient-men,  which  came  out 
of  Holand  and  Old  England  concerning  the  church."  This  was  probably  written  in 
1652.  It  is  noticeable  that  many  of  these  books,  the  dates  of  which  I  have  added 
in  the  list,  were  published  after  the  Pilgrims  came  to  America,  and  that  some 
were  used  by  Bradford  within  a  year  or  two  of  the  time  of  publication.  It  is 
evident  that  even  in  Plymouth,  which  had  no  bookseller,  and  was  in  general  far 
behind  Boston  in  culture,  books  fresh  from  the  press  were  not  unknown.  See  pp. 
25  and  26,  above. 

'54  Mather  Papers,  p.  74. 


6o        Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

Musculus,  Loci  Communes,  de  Ccena 

Mead,  Inst.  Loc. 

Pareus,  On  2  Corinthians,  1 1 :  26 

Zepper,  de  Polit.  Eccles.  L.  1,  c.  14 

Anne  Bradstreet  in  her  poems  referred  to  various  writers: 

To  whom  the  old  Berosus^^^  (so  much  fam'd) 
His  Book  of  Assurs  monarchs  dedicates. 

No  Phoenix  pen,  nor  Spencers  poetry, 

Nor  Speed's  nor  Cambdens  learned  History's^ 

If  Curtius  be  true  in  his  report'" 

He  that  at  large  would  satisfie  his  mind. 
In  Plutarch's  Lives  his  history  may  find.'^* 

Which  makes  me  now  with  Sylvester  confess, 
But  Sidney's  Muse  can  sing  his  worthiness. '^9 

References  to  DuBartas,  author  of  the  "Divine  Week,"  and 
to  Sylvester,  who  turned  DuBartas'  poems  into  English,  are 
frequent  in  her  poems,  one  of  which  is  "In  Honour  of  Du- 
Bartas." According  to  J.  H.  Ellis,  who  edited  her  poems, 
much  of  her  historical  material  was  taken  from  Raleigh's 
"History  of  the  World";  his  evidence  is  satisfactory.'*" 

Nathaniel  Morton,  in  his  "New  England's  Memorial," 
occasionally  drew  upon  history  for  illustrations,  giving  in 
each  case  his  authority  and  generally  the  page  reference. 
Authors  cited  include  Carion,  Languet,  Peter  Martyr,  Pliny, 
Purchas,  and  Socrates. 

'55  The  Works  of  Anne  Bradstreet  in  Prose  and  Verse,  edited  by  J.  H.  Ellis,  p. 
317.  Berosus,  a  Babylonian  historian  of  about  260  B.  C,  was  probably  met  by 
Mrs.  Bradstreet  in  the  pages  of  Raleigh's  History. 

'5* //^/</.,  p.  358.  Camden's  Annales  Rerum  Anglicarum  ....  Regnante  Eliz- 
abetha  was  published  in  161 5.  English  versions  appeared  in  1625  and  1635. 
Speed's  History  of  Great  Britain  was  published  in  1623. 

'57  Ibid.,  pp.  257,  265.     Quintus  Curtius,  Roman  Historian. 

^^  Ibid.,  p.  297. 

'^'^  Ibid.,  p.  349.  In  An  Elegie  upon  that  Honourable  and  renowned  Knight, 
Sir  Philip  Sidney,  she  has  much  to  say  of  his  work  as  a  poet. 

'*"  Ibid.,  pp.  xlvii-xlix. 


Libraries  and  the  Circulation  of  Books.         6 1 

It  would  seem,  then,  from  the  foregoing  evidence,  that, 
as  the  colonists  brought  with  them  many  good  libraries, 
constantly  added  new  books,  and  supplemented  their  own 
libraries  by  borrowing  freely  from  their  neighbors  near  and 
remote,  they  were  not  without  the  means  of  culture  and  had 
access  to  a  moderate  amount  of  real  literature.  It  must  be 
remembered  that  we  possess  only  fragmentary  records  of 
private  life  in  the  colonies;  more  comprehensive  records 
would  almost  certainly  give  added  proof  of  the  possession 
of  books  and  libraries.  It  seems  fair  to  assume  that,  although 
the  colonists  were  at  a  disadvantage  in  this  respect  compared 
with  their  English  contemporaries  who  lived  in  or  near  Lon- 
don or  either  university,  they  were  under  no  greater  handicap 
than  if  they  had  been  living  in  some  remote  place  in  the 
north  or  west  of  England. 


Chapter  III:  Intercourse  with  England 
and  English  Literary  Men. 


IT  is  a  mistake  to  think  of  New  England  colonists  as 
practically  cut  off  from  the  outside  world,  dwellers  in 
a  lonely  desert  place.  Our  popular  histories  have  cre- 
ated this  impression  by  their  over-emphasis  on  the  dramatic 
elements  of  the  hardships  of  the  first  years  of  settlement, 
especially  at  Plymouth.  The  settlers  of  Plymouth  had  few 
friends  in  England  and  were,  perhaps,  isolated  from  the 
world  until  the  Massachusetts  Bay  settlements  were  estab- 
lished. The  latter,  however,  were  always  in  close  touch  with 
England.  John  Josselyn,  coming  to  Boston  in  1638,  pre- 
sented his  "respects  to  Mr.  Winthorpe  \^sic\  the  Governour, 
and  to  Mr.  Cotton  the  Teacher  of  Boston  Church,  to  whom 
I  delivered  from  Mr.  Francis  paries  the  poet,  the  Transla- 
tion of  the  16,  25,  51,  88,  113,  and  137.  Psalms  into  English 
Meeter,  for  his  approbation."^  Mention  has  already  been 
made  of  early  graduates  of  Harvard  who  returned  to  Eng- 
land to  engage  in  public  life  there.^  Twenty-seven  of  the 
ministers  who  came  to  the  colony  in  the  early  years  returned 
to  England,  some  of  whom  became  colonists  again  at  the 
Restoration.^  Business  trips  to  England  were  such  ordinary 
affairs  as  to  call  for  no  comment;  in  all  of  my  reading  I  have 
found  no  reference  to  them  either  as  difficult  or  as  unusual.'* 
The  colonists  thought  of  themselves  as  Englishmen,  further 

'  Josselyn,  Two  Voyages  to  New  England,  p.  20.     The  last  phrase  is  interesting. 

'  See  p.  18,  above.  Others  not  Harvard  men  also  returned  to  active  life  in  Eng- 
land, such  as  Giles  Firmin,  who,  born  in  England,  accompanied  his  father  to  New 
England,  was  educated  and  married  here,  but  later  returned  to  England  to  spend 
his  life.     Such  people  were  a  bond  between  the  old  and  the  new. 

sMagnalia,  i.  588. 

*  John  Wilson  went  to  England  in  1631  and  again  in  1635.  (Winthrop's  Journal, 
i.  80,  I45.)     Edward  Winslow  went  to  England  in  1635  as  agent  for  Plymouth, 


Intercourse  with  England.  63 

away  from  London,  the  heart  of  England,  than  if  they  had 
stayed  in  Old  England,  but  still  living  in  a  part  of  England, 
New  England.  Edward  Johnson,  in  his  "Wonder-Working 
Providence,"  used  the  phrase  "our  Countreymen  "  to  refer  to 
people  in  England,^  and  seemed  eager  to  have  his  readers 
think  of  himself  and  his  colonial  neighbors  as  interested 
essentially  in  the  welfare  of  England.^  The  affection  felt 
by  New  England  for  Old  England  is  also  shown  in  Anne 
Bradstreet's  poem,  "x'\  Dialogue  between  Old  England,  and 
New  England,"  and  by  a  statement  of  John  Dunton  in  one  of 
his  letters.  He  spoke  of  his  own  love  for  England,  adding, 
"And  'twas  thus  with  the  first  Planters  of  this  Country, 
who  were,  even  to  their  80th  year,  still  pleasing  themselves 
with  hopes  of  their  Returning  to  England."^ 

During  the  period  of  the  Commonwealth  they  felt  per- 
haps even  more  strongly  their  ties  to  the  mother  country, 
for  their  friends,  and  in  many  cases  their  neighbors  or 
members  of  their  families,  were  taking  an  active  part  in 
English  affairs.     Dr.  Palfrey  writes, 

Hugh  Peter  and  Thomas  Welde,  sent  over  by  Massachusetts  to 
look  after  its  affairs,  both  rose  to  influence  with  Cromwell,  and 

and  in  1646  as  agent  for  Massachusetts.  (Magnalia,  i.  115.)  William  Hibbens 
of  Boston  accompanied  Hugh  Peter  and  Thomas  Welde  to  England  in  164I, 
returning  the  next  year  alone.  (Winthrop's  Journal,  ii.  32,  71.)  In  1646  Samuel 
Gorton  and  two  of  his  followers  went  to  England  to  complain  of  their  persecutions 
at  the  hands  of  the  Massachusetts  authorities.  {Ibid.,  ii.  282.)  John  Wheelwright 
visited  England  during  the  Protectorate  and  was  well  received  by  his  old  friend 
the  Protector.  {Ibid.,  i.  197  note.)  John  Winthrop,  Jr.,  made  three  trips  to 
England;  his  brother  Stephen  also  made  repeated  visits  to  the  mother  country. 
(Winthrop  Papers,  iv.  199  note.)  Daniel  Gookin  went  to  England  in  1650,  1654, 
and  1657.  (Gookin,  Life  of  Daniel  Gookin,  p.  81  ff.).  Henry  Wolcott  of  Windsor, 
Connecticut,  crossed  the  ocean  for  business  in  1654,  1663,  and  about  1671.  (Wol- 
cott, Memorial  of  Henry  Wolcott,  pp.  36-38.) 

5  "the  learned  labours  of  this  Souldier  of  Christ  [John  Norton]  are  obvious  to 
our  Countreymen."  (p.  103.)  "Many  pamphlets  have  come  from  our  Countrey- 
men of  late,  to  this  purpose."     (p.  173.) 

^"for  Englands  sake  they  are  going  from  England  to  pray  without  ceasing  for 
England.  O  England!  thou  shalt  finde  New  England  prayers  prevailing  with 
their  God  for  thee."     (p.  53.) 

'  Letters,  p.  62. 


64        Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

the  former,  as  his  chaplain,  walked  hy  the  Protector's  Secretary, 
John  Milton,  at  his  funeral.** 

Hugh  Peter  married  Mrs.  Reade,  the  mother  of  the  wife  of 
John  Winthrop,  Jr.;^  her  first  husband,  Edmund  Reade, 
had  been  a  colonel  in  the  parliamentary  army.^"  Stephen 
Winthrop,  brother  of  John  Winthrop,  Jr.,  and  Fitz-John, 
the  latter's  son,  both  served  in  that  army.  Stephen  Win- 
throp, on  a  visit  to  England  in  1646,  accepted  a  commission 
in  the  Parliamentary  army.  He  rose  rapidly  to  the  rank  of 
colonel.  Roger  Williams,  writing  from  England  to  John 
Winthrop,  Jr.,  in  1656,  mentioned  the  fact  that  "Your 
brother  Stephen  succeeds  Major-General  Harrison."  In 
this  same  year  he  represented  Banff  and  Aberdeen  in  Parlia- 
ment. He  married  one  sister  of  Colonel  Rainsborough  of 
the  Parliamentary  army,  another  becoming  the  fourth  wife 
of  his  father,  Governor  W'inthrop.^^  Fitz-John  Winthrop 
went  to  England  in  1657,  having  been  offered  commissions 
by  two  of  his  uncles,  Stephen  Winthrop  and  Thomas  Reade. 
He  accepted  a  lieutenancy  in  Reade's  regiment  of  foot, 
rose  to  a  captaincy,  and  at  one  time  was  governor  of  Car- 
dross  in  Scotland.'^  Samuel  Desborough,  the  first  magis- 
trate of  Guilford,  Connecticut,  returned  to  England  and 
became,  under  Cromwell,  Lord  Keeper  of  the  Great  Seal 
of  Scotland.  His  brother  John  had  married  Cromwell's 
sister  Jane.^''  John  Hoadley,  also  of  Guilford,  became  one 
of  Cromwell's  chaplains  at  Edinburgh,  and  afterwards  chap- 
lain to  General  Monck.^*  Samuel  Mather,  brother  of  In- 
crease, was  chaplain  to  Thomas  Andrews,  Lord  Mayor  of 

'  History  of  New  England,  i.  586. 

9  Dictionary  of  National  Biography;  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Pro- 
ceedings, xlii.  169. 

'"  Dictionary  of  National  Biography. 

"  Winthrop  Papers,  iv.  199  note;   Dictionary  of  National  Biography. 

"  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Proceedings,  2d  Series,  i.  118  fF.;  Winthrop 
Papers,  ii.  203;  iv.  266  note. 

■^  Dictionary  of  National  Biography. 

'♦  Steiner,  History  of  Guilford  and  Madison,  p.  43. 


Intercourse  with  England.  65 

London,  and  later  was  chosen  to  accompany  the  English 
Commissioners  to  Scotland.  Still  later  Henry  Cromwell 
took  him  as  one  of  his  chaplains  on  his  Irish  expedition.''' 
Francis  Higginson,  second  son  of  the  Reverend  Francis  Hig- 
ginson  of  Salem,  studied  at  Leyden,  conformed  to  the  Church 
of  England,  and  spent  his  life  as  a  vicar  in  Westmoreland.'^ 
The  two  sons  of  Governor  John  Haynes  by  his  first  wife 
had  stayed  in  England  when  he  emigrated;  both  are  said 
to  have  drawn  "their  swords  in  the  great  Civil  War, — the 
elder  for  the  King,  the  younger  for  the  Parliament.""  John 
Haynes,  Jr.,  son  of  Governor  Haynes  by  his  second  wife, 
after  graduating  from  Harvard  in  1656,  went  to  England  in 
1657  with  Fitz-John  Winthrop.  Instead  of  going  into  the 
army,  he  went  to  Cambridge,  where  he  took  the  Master's 
degree  in  1660.  He  remained  in  England  and,  having  con- 
formed, spent  his  life  as  rector  of  the  Church  of  England  in 
Suffolk  and  Essex. '^ 

Several  others  returned  to  enter  the  Parliamentary  army. 
Major  Robert  Sedgwick  of  Charlestown  rose  to  the  rank  of 
Major-General,  and  was  employed  by  Cromwell  in  the  ex- 
pedition against  the  West  Indies,  succeeding  General  For- 
tescue  as  Governor  of  Jamaica. ^'^  Captain  George  Cook, 
who  had  been  active  in  the  Massachusetts  militia,  became 
a  colonel  in  Cromwell's  army.^"  Israel  Stoughton,  whose 
son  William  was  lieutenant-governor  under  William  and 
Mary,  became  a  lieutenant-colonel  among  the  Ironsides. ^^ 
Captain  John  Mason,  hero  of  the  Mystic  fight,  was  urged 
by  Sir  Thomas  Fairfax,  his  old  comrade  in  arms,  to  join 
the  army  of  Parliament,  but  he  did  not  return  to  England." 

'5  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Collections,  ist  Series,  x.  26  note. 

'^  Dictionary  of  National  Biography.     See  p.  153,  below. 

'7  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Proceedings,  2d  Series,  i.  118. 

'Ubid.,\.  118  ff. 

'9  John  Hull's  Public  Diary,  p.  174  note. 

*"  Winthrop's  Journal,  ii.  I40  note. 

"  Ibid.,  i.  1 47  note. 

"Ibid.,  i.  218  note. 


66        Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

John  Collins,  Harvard  1649,  ^^^  ^  chaplain  in  Monck's 
army;-''  and  William  Hooke,  of  New  Haven,  was  one  of 
Cromwell's  chaplains,  his  wife,  a  sister  of  General  Whalley, 
being  a  cousin  of  the  Protector.^^  He  was  also  probably 
Master  of  the  Savoy."  Edward  Hopkins,  of  New  Haven, 
was  active  in  public  life  during  Cromwell's  regime. ^^  Ed- 
ward Winslow,  having  gone  to  England  as  agent  of  Massa- 
chusetts in  1646,  remained  in  England  and  later  became  one 
of  the  Grand  Commissioners  of  Cromwell's  expedition 
against  Hispaniola."  Daniel  Gookin,  on  his  third  visit  to 
England,  served  for  a  time  (i 658-1 659)  as  collector  of  cus- 
toms at  Dunkirk,  being  appointed  later  Deputy  Treasurer 
of  War  there.  He  was  acquainted  with  Cromwell,  and  it 
was  through  him  that  Cromwell  gave  his  invitation  to  the 
New  Englanders  to  remove  to  the  balmier  climate  of  Ja- 
maica. On  his  return  to  Boston  in  1660  he  was  accompanied 
by  Goffe  and  Whalley,  the  regicides.^* 

Mention  has  already  been  made  of  the  friendship  between 
John  Winthrop,  Jr.,  and  Sir  Kenelme  Digby.^'^  There  are 
several  references  to  this  in  letters  to  Winthrop  from  William 
Hooke,  then  in  London.  He  wrote,  April  13,  1657,  "For 
Sir  Kenelme  Digby  is  in  France,  and  when  he  will  return  I 
hear  not.J"  Again,  April  16,  1658,  "Sir  Kenelme  Digby  is 
not,  as  yet,  returned,  &  therefore  I  can  give  you  no  account 
of  him. "3'  And  again,  March  30,  1659,  "As  for  Sir  Kenelme 
Digby,  I  have  not  heard  of  him  a  long  time.  He  is  not  (for 
ought  I  heare)  in  England.     He  is  a  greate  schollar,  but  I 

'3  John  Hull's  Diary,  p.  159  note  3. 

'■t  Dictionary  of  National  Biography. 

^5  CJ.  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Proceedings,  xli.  304. 

^*  Winthrop's  Journal,  i.  223  note.  He  was  successively  First  Warden  of  the 
Fleet  and  a  Commissioner  of  the  army  and  navy. 

='  Magnalia,  i.  115. 

^  Gookin,  Life  of  Daniel  GooVm,  passim.  Tyler,  History  of  American  Literature, 
i.  152. 

*'  See  pp.  4 1  and  42,  above. 

30  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Collections,  3rd  Series,  i.  183. 

3'  Winthrop  Papers,  ii.  588. 


Intercourse  with  England.  67 

heare  no  good  of  him  by  any."^^  One  letter  from  Sir  Kenelme 
himself  gives  further  evidence  of  a  friendship  which  would 
seem  to  have  been  close,  to  judge  both  by  the  eagerness 
with  which  Winthrop  was  making  inquiry  for  Sir  Kenelme 
through  his  London  correspondent,  and  by  Sir  Kenelme's 
evident  desire  to  serve  Winthrop.  The  opening  sentences 
refer  to  his  second  gift  to  the  Harvard  Library. 

Paris  16.  Jan.  i6<;6.  new  stile. 

.    ...    I  beseech  you  present  my  most  humble  thankes  to  the 

President  and  fellowes  of  y''  college  for  the  obliging  Letter  they 

haue  bin  pleased  to  send  me.    So  small  a  present  as  j  presumed  to 

make   them,   deserued    not   so  large   a   returne I   haue 

searched  all  Paris  for  Blaise  Viginere  des  Chiffres.  I  had  it  in  my 
library  in  England:  But  att  the  plundering  of  my  house,  j  lost  it 
w'^'  many  other  good  bookes.  I  haue  layed  out  in  all  places  for 
it:  and  when  j  gett  it,  it  shall  be  for  you  by  the  first  conueniency 
of  sending  it  to  you.^^ 

John  Winthrop,  F,  R.  S.,  grandson  of  John  Winthrop, 
Jr.,  in  a  letter  to  Cotton  Mather  written  in  17 18,  referred 
as  follows  to  this  friendship: 

The  famous  &  learned  S"^  Kenelme  Digby  (then  at  Paris)  ear- 
nestly solicited  my  hon''^  granfather  to  returne  back  to  England, 
urging  that  America  was  too  scanty  for  so  great  a  philosopher  to 
stay  long  in.  My  good  ancestor  modestly  answered,  'Res  angusta 
domi^  my  duty  to  a  numerous  family,  will  not  permitt  it.'^-* 

Hugh  Peter  would  seem  to  have  been  acquainted  with 
Sir  Kenelme  also,  for  it  is  he  who  first  sent  word  to  Win- 
throp that  the  knight  was  sending  a  great  chest  of  books 
to  Harvard. ^^ 

Cromwell  had  a  college  mate  in  the  colonies,  John  Wheel- 
wright, B.  A.  of  Sidney  Sussex  in  1614,  and  M.  A.  in  1618. 
Of  him  he  later  said, 

^  Ibid.,  ii.  593. 

«  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Collections,  3rd  Series,  x.  15. 

^  Winthrop  Papers,  vi.  384  note. 

35  Ibid..^  i.  1 16.     See  p.  41  note  68,  above. 


68        Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

I  remember  the  time  when  I  was  more  afraid  of  meeting  Wheel- 
wright at  foot-ball,  than  I  have  been  since  of  meeting  an  army  in 
the  field,  for  I  was  infallibly  sure  of  being  tripped  up  by  him.^* 

Cromwell  was  also  well  acquainted  with  John  Cotton,  if 
we  may  judge  from  the  friendly  tone  of  a  letter  which  has 
been  preserved. ^^  John  Oxenbridge  was  another  colonial 
friend  of  Cromwell,  and  of  Milton  and  Marvell  as  well.-** 
If  conditions  in  England  had  differed  upon  one  occasion, 
Cromwell  himself  would  have  come  to  New  England.  He 
told  Lord  Falkland  in  1641  that  if  the  Remonstrance  had 
not  passed,  "he  would  have  sold  all  he  had  the  next  morn- 
ing, and  never  have  seen  England  more."^'  Cotton  Mather 
mentions  Cromwell,  with  "Mr.  Hambden,  and  Sir  Arthur 
Haselrig,"  among  those  who  were  forcibly  detained  from 
coming. '*''  This  legend  lacks  satisfactory  proof;  in  fact,  at 
the  time  they  were  supposed  to  have  been  stopped,  Hamp- 
den was  in  the  midst  of  his  legal  contest  against  the  ship- 
money,  and  it  is  hardly  believable  that  he  would  have  de- 
serted in  the  heat  of  the  fight.  But  that  it  was  beheved  by 
the  next  generation  and  has  been  accepted  quite  generally 
ever  since  gives  evidence  of  its  truth  in  probability,  if  not 
in  fact.  New  England  did  not  seem  far  away  to  those  who 
desired  asylum  from  political  oppression  in  England;  nor, 
as  we  have  seen,  did  England  seem  far  away,  when  political 
conditions  changed,  to  those  on  this  side  of  the  water  who 
desired  a  larger  field  for  action  than  the  colonies  seemed  to 
afford.  Chance,  or  beliefs,  or  both,  had  much  more  to  do 
with  determining  who  came  than  ability.     The  men  who 

3^  Memoir  of  John  Wheelwright,  p.  2. 

"  New  Hampshire  Historical  Society,  Collections,  i.  258. 

^'Publications  of  the  Colonial  Society  of  Massachusetts,  xii.  121.  When  Mar- 
vell was  tutoring  William  Button,  Cromwell's  ward,  he  went  to  live,  upon  Crom- 
well's advice,  with  Oxenbridge,  then  a  fellow  at  Eton.  Marvell  wrote  the  epitaph 
upon  the  first  wife  of  Oxenbridge.  Marvell's  poem  "Bermudas"  was  probably  sug- 
gested by  Oxenbridge,  who  had  lived  there  for  a  time.  (Dictionary  of  National 
Biography,  and  Poems  of  Andrew  Marvell,  Muses'  Library  edition.) 

»  Clarendon,  Rebellion,  Book  IV.  §52. 

40  Magnalia,  i.  79. 


Intercourse  with  England.  69 

settled  New  England,  it  must  be  remembered,  were  not  an 
inferior  class. 

The  feeling  of  unity  between  New  and  Old  England  at 
the  time  of  the  Commonwealth  is  well  illustrated  by  the 
behavior  of  the  authorities  of  Massachusetts  in  the  case  of 
the  burning,  in  1650,  of  William  Pynchon's  "The  Meritorious 
Price  of  our  Redemption."  When  the  General  Court  found  it 
to  be  "erronyous  and  hereticale,"  and  ordered  it  to  be 
burned,  it  was  careful  to  issue  a  "  Declaration"  of  its  detes- 
tation of  the  heresy. 

The  "Declaration"  was  immediately  sent  to  England  to  be 
printed  and  circulated  there,  in  order  that  the  Court  might  set 
itself  right  with  its  Christian  brethren,  while  John  Norton  was 
entreated  to  answer  Mr.  Pynchon's  book  with  all  convenient 
speed,  and  his  answer  was  also  to  be  sent  to  England  to  be  printed. "i' 

At  the  Restoration  New  England  once  more  became  the 
place  of  refuge  for  exiles  from  England.  Cotton  Mather 
mentions  fourteen  ministers  who  came  to  avoid  persecution 
at  this  time,-^^  and  refers  also  to  "some  eminent  persons  of 
a  New-English  original,  which  were  driven  back  out  of 
Europe  into  their  own  country  again,  by  that  storm. "''^ 
Among  these  exiles  were  some  who,  as  the  highest  judges 
of  England,  had  tried  even  a  king.  It  is  interesting  at  this 
point  to  speculate  upon  the  possibility  that,  had  he  been 
accorded  harsher  treatment,  Milton  himself  might  have  fol- 
lowed the  Regicides  to  America,  in  which  case  "Paradise 
Lost"  would  have  been  written  in  New  England, — or  not  at 
all.  Which  is  the  more  probable  of  these  two  possibilities 
will  be  discussed  elsewhere.'*''  At  least  he  would  have  found 
friends  here;  Roger  Williams  seems  to  have  been  on  intimate 

■"  Duniway,  Freedom  of  the  Press  in  Massachusetts,  p.  32. 

*^  Magnalia,  i.  237.  The  ministers  are  James  Allen,  John  Bailey,  Thomas  Baily, 
Thomas  Barnet,  James  Brown,  Thomas  Gilbert,  James  Keith,  Samuel  Lee,  Charles 
Morton,  Charles  Nicholet,  John  Oxenbridge,  Thomas  Thornton,  Thomas  Walley, 
and  William  Woodrop. 

« Ibid.,  i.  238. 

**  See  pp.  93  and  94,  below. 


yo        Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

terms  with  him  during  his  visit  to  England  from  1651  to 
1654,45  as  was  also  the  Reverend  John  Clarke  of  Newport, 
R.  I.;''^  and  Milton  knew  and  corresponded  with  John  Win- 
throp,  Jr. 47  Winthrop  probably  became  acquainted  with 
Milton  through  their  mutual  friend,  Samuel  Hartlib,  author 
of  many  works  on  agriculture  and  natural  history,  to  whom 
Milton  addressed  his  tract  "Of  Education"  with  every  evi- 
dence of  close  acquaintance,  and  with  whom  Winthrop  had 
an  extensive  correspondence.''*  Theodore  Haak,  said  to  have 
been  the  founder  of  the  "London  Club,  or  Invisible  College 
of  Natural  Philosophers,"  from  which  the  Royal  Society 
developed,  and  Henry  Oldenburg,  for  several  years  Secre- 
tary of  the  Royal  Society,  were  also  friends  and  corre- 
spondents of  Winthrop,  and  friends  of  Milton."** 

It  was  through  these  friends  that  Winthrop  became  one 
of  the  early  fellows  of  the  Royal  Society,  being  nominated 
as  fellow  in  1662,^*  when  the  Society  was  less  than  two 
years  old.-"  Winthrop's  interest  in  science  was  evidently 
strong  before  he  came  to  New  England,  as  a  reference  to 

■•s  Williams  wrote  to  John  Winthrop,  Jr.,  July  12,  1654,  having  just  returned 
from  England,  "It  pleased  the  Lord  to  call  me  for  some  time  and  with  some  per- 
sons to  practice  the  Hebrew,  the  Greeke,  Latine,  French  and  Dutch:  The  Secre- 
tarie  of  the  Councell,  (M''  Milton)  for  my  Dutch  I  read  him,  read  me  many  more 
Languages."  It  is  probably  in  this  way  that  Milton  became  acquainted  with  the 
Dutch  Lucifer  by  Vondel.  Williams  seems  to  have  discussed  education  with 
Milton,  for  he  says  further  in  this  letter,  "Grammar  rules  begin  to  be  esteemd 
a  Tyrannie.  I  taught  2  young  Gentlemen  a  Parliament  mans  sons  (as  we  teach 
our  children  English)  by  words  phrazes  and  constant  talke  &c.  I  have  begun 
with  mine  owne  3  boys."  (Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Collections,  3rd  Series, 
X.3.)  See  Milton's  criticism  of  the  time  wasted  in  the  study  of  grammar,  in  Of 
Education. 

■•^  Clarke  lived  in  England  from  i6<;i  to  1663.  He  was  also  acquainted  with 
Sir  Henry  Vane  and  the  Earl  of  Clarendon.  It  was  through  the  latter  that  he 
obtained  from  Charles  II  the  remarkable  Rhode  Island  Charter  ot  1663,  granting 
religious  freedom.     (Early  Religious  Leaders  of  Newport,  p.  16.) 

^7  Philosophical  Transactions  of  the  Royal  Society  of  London,  xl.  1741.  Dedi- 
cation. 

*^  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Proceedings,  ist  Series,  xvi.  207.  See  p. 
47,  above. 

'"The  Society  was  founded  in  1660,  and  incorporated  in  1662.  Encyclopedia 
Britannica. 


Intercourse  with  England.  71 

the  titles  of  books  sent  him  by  his  friends  in  England  shows. s" 
That  theology  was  not  the  all-exclusive  factor  in  colonial 
life  that  it  is  otten  pictured  as  being  is  shown  by  the  fact 
that  a  busy  colonial  governor  found  the  time  to  keep  up 
his  study  of  science  after  the  experimental  method  newly 
discovered  by  Bacon,  and  was  considered  by  English  scien- 
tific men  worthy  to  become  their  associate  in  research,  and 
even  to  serv^e  on  two  committees  of  the  Royal  Society  in 
1664. 5'  His  friendship  with  Sir  Kenelme  Digby  may  easily 
have  resulted  from  their  common  interest  in  alchemy.  The 
letter  of  Sir  Kenelme  from  which  quotation  has  already  been 
made  was  largely  made  up  of  explanations  and  discussions  of 
wondrous  liquids,  potent  medicines,  and  especially  Digby's 
favorite  sympathetic  powder. 

Winthrop's  correspondence  with  scientific  and  literary  men 
in  England  and  on  the  Continent  was  extensive.  Dr.  Crom- 
well Mortimer,  Secretary  of  the  Royal  Society,  in  dedicating 
the  fortieth  volume  of  the  Transactions  of  the  Society  to 
John  Winthrop,  F.  R.  S.,  grandson  of  John  Winthrop,  Jr., 
referred  to  "  the  great  Treasure  of  curious  Letters  on  various 
learned  Subjects"  written  to  the  earlier  Winthrop  and  then 
in  the  possession  of  the  younger,  and  listed  over  eighty  of 
the  writers  of  these  letters. ^^ 

s"  See  pp.  32-34,  above. 

5'  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Proceedings,  ist  Series,  xvi.  206  ff. 

s^  The  following  names  are  characteristic  of  the  list: 

Earl  of  Anglesey  Robert  Hooke 

Earl  of  Arundel  Ch.  Howard,  Duke  of  Norfolk 

Elias  Ashmole  Joh.  Keppler 

Robert  Boyle  Dr.  Lovell,  Oxon. 

Tycho  Brahe  Earl  of  Manchester 

Lord  Brounker  John  Milton 

Dr.  Browne  [probably  Sir  Thomas]  Sir  Rob.  Moray 

Jo.  Camden  Lord  Napier 

Lord  Clarendon  Isaac  Newton 

Comenius  Dr.  Pell 

Charles  II  Earl  of  Pembroke 

O.  Cromwell  Pet.  Peregrinus,  Romae 

Ernestus  Coloniae,  Episc.  Alb.  Peterson,  Amstel. 


72        Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England, 

His  friends  of  the  Royal  Society  expected  from  him  valu- 
able contributions  to  knowledge,  and  were  not  disappointed. 
Henry  Oldenburg,  Secretary  of  the  Society,  wrote  in  1667: 

Sir, — So  good  an  opportunity  as  this  I  could  not  let  passe 
w'hout  putting  you  in  mind  of  y"^  being  a  member  of  y*"  Royall 
Society,  though  you  are  in  New-England;  and  that  even  at  so 
great  a  distance  you  may  doe  that   Illustrious  Company  great 

service We  know  y""  ingenuity,  experience,  and  veracity, 

y"  best  qualities  of  a  man  and  a  Philosopher;  ....  And,  since 
you  have  now  been  from  us  severall  years,  give  us  at  last  a  visit 
by  a  Philosophicall  letter. ^^ 

In  a  postscript  he  discussed  the  value  of  the  experimental 
method  of  searching  "the  works  of  God  themselves."  Early 
in  1669  he  wrote  again  in  regard  to  scientific  equipment  in 
America,  and  requested  certain  experiments  performed: 

Giue  me  leaue  ....  to  inquire  ....  Whether  you  haue 
any  good  Telescopes,  to  compare  the  Phgenomena  from  that  Coast 
w'^  the  Accompts  of  Hevelius,  Ricciolo,  Cassini,  etc.  W'hat 
advance  of  Harverd  Coll.  in  y""  Cambridge?  Whether  you  are 
furnisht  w""  the  modern  books  of  y*^  most  Ingenious  and  famous 
Philosophers  and  Mathematicians  [of  whom  he  gives  a  list]  .... 

I  send  you  herew''*  a  Printed  paper,  w"^^  contains  y*^  predictions 
of   M'  Bond  for  the  variations  of  y*"  Needle  for  several  years  to 

Joh.  Espagnet  Conrad  Roves,  Dominus  Rosenstein,Mar- 

Dr.  Everard  grav.  in  Croatia 

Gal.  Galileo  Prince  Rupert 

J.  R.  Glauber  Dr.  Sackville 

Dr.  Goddard  Earl  of  Sandwich 

Princeps  Gothar  J.  Slegelius 

Dr.  Grew  Sir  Rob.  Southwell 

J.  B.  van  Helmont  Bishop  Sprat 

J.  F.  Helvetius  Princeps  Sultsbergensis 

Lord  Herbert  [of  Cherbury?]  Dr.  Tanckmarus 

Hans  Albrecht,  Dominus  Herberstein        J.  Tradescant 

Joh.  Hevelius  Dr.  Wilkins 

Sir  Jo.  Heydon  Dr.  Willis 

Frederick  Princeps  Holsatiae  et  Dominus  Dr.  Witherly 

Slesvic  Sir  Henry  Wotton 

Sir  Christopher  Wren 

S3  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Proceedings,  ist  Series,  xvi.  229,  230. 


Intercourse  with  England.  73 

come you   will   take   notice    ....    how   the  variation 

varies  in  New  England  .   .   .  ^^ 

The  next  year  Oldenburg  wrote  to  thank  Winthrop  for 
a  collection  of  curiosities  sent  to  the  Society  w^ith  a  written 
account  of  them: 

Sir, — Y*^  Kinsman,  Mr.  Adam  Winthrop,  hath  acquitted  him- 
self faithfully  of  y^  trust  you  had  reposed  in  him,  in  delivering 
into  my  hands  both  y'  letter  and  y""  American  Curiosities  accom- 
panying the  same His  Maj'y  himselfe,  hearing  of  some  of 

y*"  rarer  things,  would  see  y'",  and  accordingly  the  Extraordinary 
Fish,  the  dwarf-oaks,  y*^  gummy  fragrant  Barke,  w'''  knobbs,  y*" 
silken  podds,  y*"  baggs  w""  litle  shells  in  them,  etc.,  were  carried 
to  Whitehall,   ....   55 

Winthrop's  account  of  these  things  was  published  soon 
after  in  the  Transactions  of  the  Society,  with  drawings  of 
some  of  the  curiosities  including  the  "extraordinary  fish," 
which  was  a  starfish. 

In  a  letter  to  Henry  Oldenburg  written  November  12, 
1668,  Winthrop  mentioned  sending  seeds,  roots,  and  such 
things  to  Robert  Boyle,  Lord  Brereton,  Charles  Howard, 
Dr.  Goddard,  Dr.  Merret,  Dr.  Whistler,  Dr.  Benjamin 
Worsley,  and  Dr.  Keffler.'^'^ 

John  Davenport  also  seems  to  have  been  interested  in 
science,  for  he  too  was  corresponding  with  Hartlib,  receiving 
from   him   "  bookes,   &   written   papers    ....    wherein    I 

findesundry  rarities  of  inventions you  [Winthrop] 

will  finde  some  particularities  among  them,  which  may  be 
advantagious  to  your  private  proffit,  in  the  improvement  of 
your  Fishers  Island.""  The  last  clause  would  indicate  that 
some  of  these  books  and  papers  were  on  Hartlib's  favorite 
subject,  scientific  farming.     In  another  letter  to  Winthrop, 

^*  Ibid.,  xvi.  239,  242.  The  undated  letter  was  received  May  6,  1669.    See  p.  48, 
n.  100,  above. 

55  Ibid.,  xvi.  244.     Letter  dated  March  26,  1670. 

5*  Winthrop  Papers,  iv.  129. 

57  Ibid.,  ii.  504.     See  p.  47,  above. 


74        Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

given  on  page  56,  above,  Davenport  mentions  four  scientific 
books  as  "a  few  of  many  more  which  are  sent  to  me." 
These  may  have  been  from  Hartlib. 

Thomas  Shepard  thanked  Winthrop  for  copies  of  the 
Transactions  of  the  Royal  Society,  which  he  had  passed  on 
to  others  to  enjoy,'^^  and  in  the  same  letter  reported  some 
astronomical  observations. 

Besides  all  these  who  had  a  true  interest  in  science  (and 
the  list  could  be  extended,  did  more  data  survive),  Con- 
necticut boasted  one  genuine  alchemist.  Jonathan  Brewster, 
who  was  glad  to  borrow  books  on  chemistry  from  Winthrop, 
and  willing  to  lend  his  own  in  return, 59  was  searching  to  find 
the  true  elixir.  He  reported  to  Winthrop  that  the  latter's 
books  had  been  of  great  service  to  him,  enabling  him  to 
understand  some  operations  "which  before  I  understode 
not,  ....  as  the  head  of  the  Crowe,  Vergines  milke, 
&c."  With  this  help  he  felt  sure  that  his  elixir,  already  well 
started,  would  be  perfected  in  five  years,  provided  that  the 
Indians  did  not  burn  down  his  house  or  otherwise  interfere 
with  his  work.^"  If  the  statement  of  Secretary  Mortimer  is 
accurate,  it  was  only  chance  which  prevented  the  founding 
of  a  colony  of  experimental  scientists  in  Connecticut,  to 
keep  Winthrop  and  Brewster  company.     He  writes:^' 

In  Concert  with  these  [Boyle,  Wilkins,  Oldenburg]  and  other 
learned  Friends,  (as  he  often  revisited  England)  he  was  one  of 
those,  who  first  form'd  the  Plan  of  the  Royal  Society;  and  had 
not  the  Civil  Wars  happily  ended  as  they  did,  Mr.  Boyle  and  Dr. 
Wilkins^  with  several  other  learned  Men,  would  have  left  Eng- 
landy  and,  out  of  Esteem  for  the  most  excellent  and  valuable 
Governor,  JOHN  WINTHROP,  the  younger,  would  have  retir'd 
to  his  new-born  Colony,  and  there  have  establish'd  that  Society 
for  promoting  Natural  Knowledge,  which  these  Gentlemen  had 
formed,  as  it  were,  in  Embryo  among  themselves;  but  which  after- 

58  See  letter  on  p.  57,  above. 

s^  See  letter  on  p.  56,  above. 

^  Winthrop  Papers,  ii.  79. 

''  Philosophical  Transactions  of  the  Royal  Society  of  London,  xl.     Dedication. 


Intercourse  with  England.  75 

wards  receiving  the  Protection  of  King  CHARLES  II.  obtain'd 
the  style  of  Royal   .... 

Robert  Boyle,  member  of  the  Royal  Society  and  at 
one  time  its  president,  and,  with  the  possible  exception  of 
Sir  Isaac  Newton,  the  most  representative  English  scientist 
of  his  day,  also  had  considerable  correspondence  with  the 
leading  men  ot  New  England.  This  was  not  primarily  sci- 
entific, however,  but  rather  missionary  in  character,  Boyle 
being  for  years  Governor  of  the  Corporation  for  the  Spread 
of  the  Gospel  in  New  England.'^' 

There  were  other  links  between  the  colonists  and  the  men 
in  active  life  in  England.  Sir  Thomas  Temple,  proprietor 
of  Nova  Scotia  (together  with  Colonel  William  Crowne),  re- 
sided here  for  several  years  during  the  Interregnum,  acquir- 
ing property  and  business  interests,  part  of  which  he  sold  in 
1653  for  £55oo.'''!  At  about  this  time  John  Crowne,  "Starch 
Johnny"  Crowne  (son  of  Colonel  William),  poet  and  drama- 
tist of  the  Restoration  period,  was  living  in  Boston.  He 
resided  for  a  time,  at  least,  (about  1660)  with  the  Reverend 
John  Norton,  and  studied  at  Harvard. ^^ 

It  would  seem  certain,  then,  that  the  inhabitants  of  New 
England,  during  the  first  half  century  of  their  colonization, 
were  able,  as  tar  as  they  desired,  to  keep  in  touch  with 
political,  scientific,  and  literary  men  and  activities  in  Eng- 
land; and  that,  beyond  any  other  of  England's  colonies,  at 
any  time  in  her  history,  during  the  period  of  colonization, 
they  felt  a  desire  for  these  things.  Their  life  may  have  been 
simple,  or  even  rough;  luxuries  or  comforts  may  have  been 
lacking;  but  there  is  no  evidence  of  any  lack  of  intellectual 
eagerness  or  of  the  means  to  satisfy  such  eagerness. 

'^  Dictionary  of  National  Biography. 

^i  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Collections,  ist  Series,  vii.  229,  and  manu- 
script copy  of  the  deed  in  the  Ewer  MSS.,  in  the  library  of  the  New  England  His- 
torical and  Genealogical  Society.  It  is  Sir  Thomas  who  is  said  to  have  told  Charles 
II  that  the  tree  on  the  pine-tree  shilling  was  the  royal  oak  which  had  preserved 
His  Majesty's  life  at  Worcester,  thereby  turning  away  the  King's  anger  at  the 
colonists  for  daring  to  coin  money  without  the  King's  consent. 

'"t  Calendar  of  State  Papers,  Colonial  Series,  America  and  West  Indies.  1661- 
1668.     No.  161,  p.  54. 


chapter  IV:  Other  Phases  of  Culture. 


THE  early  settlers  of  New  England  were  not  only 
well  educated  and  furnished  with  libraries,  but  in 
many  cases  came  from  families  of  distinction  and 
even  of  title,  and  brought  with  them  considerable  wealth. 
Among  those  who  came  with  John  Winthrop  in  1630  were 
Isaac  Johnson  and  his  wife,  the  Lady  Arbella,  sister  to  the 
Earl  of  Lincoln.  These  two  did  not  live  long  enough  to  in- 
fluence the  life  of  the  colony,  but  that  they  desired  to  come 
is  significant.  Three  years  later  the  Lady  Arbella's  sister, 
Lady  Susan,  and  her  husband,  John  Humfrey,  joined  the 
colonists.'  Lady  Alice  Apsley  Boteler,  widow  of  Lord  John 
Boteler  and  daughter  of  Sir  Edward  Apsley  of  Sussex,  mar- 
ried Mr.  George  Fenwick  just  before  he  embarked  for 
America,  and  accompanied  him  to  Connecticut.'  Sir 
Richard  Saltonstall  also  boasted  a  title,  and  was  the  son 
of  a  Lord  Mayor  of  London.^  John  Winthrop  had  been  a 
magistrate  and  man  of  affairs  in  England,  and  his  father, 
Adam  Winthrop,  was  also  a  magistrate  and,  for  a  number 
of  years,  auditor  of  Trinity  College,  Cambridge. ^  Edward 
Johnson,  town  clerk  of  Woburn  and  author  of  "The  Wonder- 
working Providence,"  was  the  son  of  the  parish  clerk  of 
St.  George's,  Canterbury,  and  possessed  a  considerable  estate 
in  Canterbury  and  elsewhere  in  Kent.s  Thomas  Dudley  had 
been  steward  for  the  Earl  of  Lincoln  and  managed  the 
large  estate  successfully.''  Simon  Bradstreet,  Dudley's 
son-in-law,  had  succeeded  him  in  the  management  of  the 

'  Winthrop's  Journal,  i.  127. 

'  Steiner,  History  of  Guilford  and  Madison,  p.  22. 

3  Winthrop's  Journal,  i.  25  note. 

*  Diary  of  Adam  Winthrop,  in  the  Life  and  Letters  of  John  Winthrop,  i.  405  ff. 

5  Jameson,  Johnson's  Wonder- Working  Providence,  p.  5. 

'  Magnalia,  i.  133. 


Other  Phases  of  Culture.  77 

affairs  of  the  Earl  of  Lincoln,  and  later  had  been  steward 
for  the  Countess  of  Warwick. ^  Governor  William  Leet  of 
Connecticut  was  by  education  a  lawyer,  and  by  employ- 
ment a  register  in  the  Bishop's  court.*  John  Wilson  was  a 
grandnephew  of  Edmund  Grindal,  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury.' Mrs.  Anne  Hutchinson  was  second  cousin  to  the 
poet  Dryden.'"  President  Chauncy's  wife  was  granddaugh- 
ter of  Bishop  Still."  President  Hoar  married  a  daughter  of 
Lord  Lisle,  one  of  the  Judges  of  Charles  L'"  Theophilus 
Eaton  had  been  employed  by  the  King  of  England  as  envoy 
to  the  King  of  Denmark,  and  had  been  successful  in  business 
as  a  member  of  the  East  Land  Company.'^  The  list  might 
be  extended  to  considerable  length,  but  one  quotation  will 
perhaps  be  sufficient  to  show  the  type  of  people  who  helped 
to  settle  New  England.  Speaking  of  one  town,  and  that  not 
one  of  the  largest,  Scituate,  Deane  writes: 

Many  of  the  fathers  were  men  of  good  education  and  easy  for- 
tune, who  had  left  homes  altogether  enviable,  save  in  the  single 
circumstance  of  the  abridgment  of  their  religious  liberty.  In 
1639,  this  town  contained  more  men  of  distinguished  talents  and 
fair  fortune  than  it  has  at  any  period  since.  They  were  "the 
men  of  Kent,"  celebrated  in  English  history  as  men  of  gallantry, 
loyalty  and  courtly  manners.  Gilson,  Vassall,  Hatherly,  Cud- 
worth,  Tilden,  Hoar,  Foster,  Stedman,  Saffin,  Hinckley,  and 
others  had  been  accustomed  to  the  elegancies  of  life  of  England.''' 

There  are  numerous  evidences  of  wealth  among  the  pio- 
neers. John  Winthrop  had  sufficient  property  so  that  the 
mismanagement  and  defalcation  of  his  steward  to  the 
amount  of  over  £2000  did  not  ruin  him,  although  it  was  a 

^  Ellis  edition,  The  Works  of  Anne  Bradstreet,  p.  xxii. 

*  Magnalia,  i.  156. 

'  Winthrop's  Journal,  i.  51  note  3. 

"  New  England  Historical  and  Genealogical  Register,  xx.  366. 

"  Ibid.,  X.  253. 

"  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Collections,  ist  Series,  vi.  100  note. 

'3  Magnalia,  i.  151;  Winthrop's  Journal,  i.  223  note. 

'^Quoted  by  Chaplin,  Life  of  Henry  Dunster,  p.  205. 


78        Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

great  loss.'^  John  Harvard  left  an  estate  of  £1600,  besides 
his  books. '^  Thomas  Flint  brought  with  him  an  estate  of 
£2000.''  Peter  Bulkeley  brought  £6000. ■*  William  Tyng, 
dying  in  1653,  left  a  property  inventoried  at  £2774. 14.04.^9 
The  estate  of  Henry  Webb,  inventoried  September  25,  1660, 
amounted  to  £7819.^"  Edward  Breck  "died  in  the  year 
1662,  leaving  an  estate,  the  value  of  which  ran  into  hun- 
dreds of  pounds  sterling,  a  large  sum  for  his  day.""      The 

'5  Life  and  Letters,  ii.  253;  also  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Collections, 
4th  Series,  vii.  224  ff.  In  considering  the  question  of  wealth  in  the  colonies,  the 
difference  in  the  value  or  purchasing  power  of  money  must  be  kept  in  mind. 
The  highest  salary  paid  to  any  minister  around  Boston  in  1657,  according  to  a  re- 
port made  by  a  special  committee  to  the  General  Court,  was  £100,  and  the  average 
of  the  twelve  listed  in  the  report  was  £65,  only  three  out  of  the  twelve  receiving  over 
£60.  The  families  to  be  supported  on  these  salaries  averaged  seven  in  number. 
Some  had  farms  in  addition  to  the  salary,  but  they  could  hope  for  no  other  income, 
as  marriages  they  considered  a  civil  function,  to  be  performed  only  by  the  magis- 
trates. The  cost  of  labor  also  illustrates  the  high  value  of  money  at  that  time. 
A  report  to  the  General  Court  of  Connecticut  in  1680,  signed  by  William  Leet, 
Governor,  and  John  Allen,  Secretary  of  the  Colony,  complains  that  "labour  is 
dear,  being  from  2S  to  isG  a  day  for  a  labourer."  (Massachusetts  Historical  So- 
ciety, Collections,  ist  Series,  iv.  222.)  Evidently  labor  had  been  cheaper  in  the 
early  days  of  the  colony;  but  accepting  this  figure,  and  comparing  it  with  present 
(1916  pre-war)  prices  of  from  $1.^0  to  $2.50  for  unskilled  labor,  we  get  a  ratio  of 
about  four  to  one.  An  estate  of  £1000  then  would  thus  be  equivalent  to  one  of 
j20,ooo  today,  and  John  Eliot's  £60  salary  as  pastor  of  the  church  at  Roxbury 
would  amount  to  $1200.  As  the  Connecticut  report  also  quotes  pork  at  3d  a 
pound,  beef  at  i}/id,  and  butter  at  6d,  the  ratio  of  four  to  one  does  not  seem  too 
high.  F.  B.  Dexter  (Proceedings  of  the  American  Antiquarian  Society,  xviii.  137) 
calls  £300  equivalent  to  perhaps  six  or  seven  thousand  dollars  with  us. 

'*  Thomas  Shepard's  Autobiography,  p.  63. 

''  Peter  Bulkeley  wrote  (to  whom  is  not  known,  as  the  name  is  missing  from  the 
letter),  "1  .  .  .  .do  further  entreat  you  would  please,  both  of  you,  to  take 
into  consideration  the  condition  of  Mrs.  Flint,  the  widow  of  worthy  Mr.  Flint 
deceased,  who  served  in  the  same  office  of  magistrate  many  years,  and  never 

received  of  the  country  any  recompense And  some  things  there  are 

which  may  persuade  on  this  side  more  effectually,  both  in  regard  of  a  great  family 
of  children,  and  the  great  decay  of  his  estate  which  he  brought  into  this  country, 
(being  about  £2000,).  ..."  (Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Collections,  3rd 
Series,  i.  47.) 

18  New  England  Historical  and  Genealogical  Register,  xxxi.  155. 

"  Ibid.,  XXX.  432. 

'"Ibid.,  X.  180. 

"  Dr.  Edward  Breck  in  Publications  of  the  Colonial  Society  of  Massachusetts, 
xiv.  49  ff.    He  adds,  "It  is  significant  of  the  degree  of  refinement  obtaining  among 


Other  Phases  of  Culture.  79 

Reverend  John  Norton's  estate  was  appraised,  April  24,  1663, 
at  £2095."  The  Reverend  John  Wilson  left  £419  in  addition 
to  a  farm  valued  at  £1300.'^  John  Endicott's  estate,  1665, 
totalled  £2269.'''  John  Bracket  was  worth  £1021,  accord- 
ing to  inventory  of  February  22,  i666;^5  and  the  same  year 
Henry  Shrimpton,  brasier,  left  assets  of  £11,979,  and  debts 
to  the  amount  of  £5743.^''  The  estate  of  Hezekiah  Usher, 
who  died  in  1676,  was  appraised  at  £15,358.^7  These  are 
just  some  of  the  larger  estates,  and  the  Suffolk  and  Essex 
Probate  Records  contain  many  inventories  of  estates  ap- 
praised between  £500  and  £1000. 

There  is  further  interesting  testimony  in  regard  to  the 
existence  of  men  of  wealth  in  New  England  in  the  sar- 
castic reference  to  them  made  by  John  Josselyn,  an  Eng- 
lish merchant,  in  his  account  of  his  two  voyages  to  New 
England: 

The  grose  Goddons,  or  great  masters,  as  also  some  of  their 
Merchants  are  damnable  rich;  generally  all  of  their  judgement, 
inexplicably  covetous  and  proud. ^* 

Elsewhere  he  wrote  of  Boston  as  it  was  in  1663: 

The  buildings  are  handsome,  joyning  one  to  the  other  as  in 
London;  with  many  large  streets,  most  of  them  paved  with 
pebble  stone.  In  the  high  street  towards  the  Common,  there  are 
fair  buildings,  some  of  stone;  and,  at  the  east  end  of  the  town, 
one  amongst  the  rest,  built  by  the  shore  by  Mr.  Gibs,  a  merchant, 

even  the  earliest  pioneers  of  New  England  [Breck  came  in  1635],  ^^^^  '"  ^^^  '"- 
ventory  of  Edward  Breck's  estate  occurs  the  mention  of  a  bath-tub." 

"  New  England  Historical  and  Genealogical  Register,  xi.  344. 

^3  Ibid.,  xvii.  344. 

^^Ibid.,  XV.  128.  This  inventory,  as  perhaps  some  of  the  others,  includes  farm 
lands;  but  as  one  farm  of  550  acres  is  appraised  at  just  £550,  I  do  not  think  the 
inventories  are  "padded"  with  undeveloped  land. 

"5  Ibid.,  XV.  250. 

'^  Ibid.,  XV.  78.  The  expenditure  for  his  funeral  amounted  to£i34.o5.o6  ($2500.00 
in  modern  equivalent).  It  must  have  been  an  elaborate  ceremonial  to  have  cost 
that  much! 

^7  Littlefield,  Early  Boston  Booksellers,  p.  68. 

''  Josselyn,  Two  Voyages  to  New  England,  p.  1 80. 


8o        Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

being  a  stately  edifice,  which  it  is  thought  will  stand  him  in  little 
less  than  £3,000  before  it  be  fully  finished.^' 

In  the  matter  of  wealth,  as  in  other  things  already  noted, 
Plymouth  was  far  behind  the  rest  of  New  England.  Estates 
above  £500  were  rare,  and  £2oo-£300  was  the  usual  figure, 
as  will  be  seen  by  reference  to  pages  28  and  29,  above. 

The  settlers  of  New  England,  then,  were  not  without 
some  wealth,  just  as  they  were  not  without  either  libraries 
or  means  of  education.  And  they  possessed  one  other  ele- 
ment of  culture  at  a  surprisingly  early  period  in  their  his- 
tory: a  printing-press  was  brought  over  and  set  up  at 
Cambridge  in  1638,  before  Boston  was  ten  years  old.^" 
This  may  not  seem  at  all  remarkable  until  we  compare 
Cambridge  with  other  cities  both  in  England  and  in  other 
colonies.  Printing  was  begun  in  Glasgow  one  year  later 
than  in  Cambridge.  It  was  first  practiced  in  Rochester  in 
1648,  or  ten  years  later,  and  at  Exeter  in  1668,  thirty  years 
later.  There  was  no  printing  in  Manchester  until  1732, 
and  none  in  Liverpool  until  after  1750.^'  The  first  press  in 
Pennsylvania^*^  was  William  Bradford's,  established  about 
1686.  Bradford  moved  to  New  York  in  1693  to  establish 
the  first  press  there. ^-^  A  press  was  running  in  Virginia  in 
1682,  but  was  quickly  suppressed,  there  being  no  further 
printing  in  that  colony  until  1729.^^  There  was  no  press 
in  Canada  until  1751,  when  Bartholomew  Green,  Jr., 
brought  one  from   Boston   to  Halifax.^s     Another  was  es- 

''Josselyn,  New  England's  Rarities  Discovered,  p.  i.  $60,000  (in  modern 
equivalent)  for  a  house! 

^"  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Collections,  4th  Series,  vi.  99. 

3'  Truebner,  Bibliographical  Guide  to  American  Literature,  p.  ix. 

3^  Thomas,  History  of  Printing,  i.  208.  The  Quakers,  like  the  Puritans, 
showed  their  interest  in  books  by  the  early  establishment  of  a  press,  within  five 
years  of  the  granting  of  the  charter. 

^^  Ibid.,  i.  291. 

^'^  Ibid.,  i.  331.  In  1671  Governor  Berkeley  remarked,  "I  thank  God  we  have 
not  free  schools  nor  printing."     {Ibid.,  i.  330.) 

35  Ibid.,  i.  357. 


Other  Phases  of  Culture.  8  i 

tablished  in  Quebec  in  1764,  and  one  in  Montreal  in  1775.^* 
One  press  did  not  satisfy  New  England  long,  for  a  second 
press  was  established  in  1674,  '"  Boston,  followed  by  several 
others  before  1700,  and  one  was  set  up  at  New  London  in 
1709."  Some  of  the  productions  of  the  New  England 
presses  will  be  discussed  in  the  following  and  later  chapters. 

^^  Ibid.,  i.  362;  Truebner,  Bibliographical  Guide,  p.  viii. 
"Thomas,  History  of  Printing,  i.  184. 


chapter  V:   The  Production  of  Literature. 


AS  the  preceding  chapters  have  shown  that  the  culture 
of  New  England  in  its  earlier  years  did  not  differ 
greatly  from  that  of  England  during  the  same 
period,  it  is  necessary  to  discuss  and  explain  the  seeming 
inferiority  of  New  England's  literature  to  contemporary 
English  literature.  To  do  this  it  will  be  necessary  not  only 
to  consider  the  literary  production  of  the  colonists, — its 
kind,  its  extent,  and  its  quality, — but  also  to  compare  it 
with  that  of  the  English  Puritans  and  account  for  such 
actual  differences  as  are  found. 

An  indication  of  the  nature  of  the  literary  activity  during 
this  period  may  be  obtained  from  the  following  tabulation 
of  the  output  of  the  press  at  Cambridge  from  its  establish- 
ment through  the  year  1670.^ 

Total  number  of  publications  157 

Almanacs  (many  contained  verse)  26 

Books  in  the  Indian  language  19 

Religious  books  (prose)  58 

Religious  books  (verse)  5 

Lists  of  Harvard  theses  12 

Laws  and  official  publications  22 

School  books  3 

Poetry  4 

History,  Biography,  etc.  8 

This  list,  however,  fails  to  give  an  accurate  impression  of 
the  extent  of  their  production  of  books.  It  must  be  remem- 
bered that  the  colonists  thought  of  themselves  as  English- 
men primarily,-  and  in  any  important  book  would  wish  to 

'  These  figures  are  based  upon  the  list  of  publications  given  in  Evans'  American 
Bibliography. 

'  See  pp.  62,  63,  above. 


The  Production  of  Literature.  83 

address  their  countrymen  who  still  lived  in  England  as  much 
as,  if  not  more  than,  their  New  England  neighbors.  All 
books  before  the  press  was  established  at  Cambridge  in 
1638,  and  the  more  important  books  after  that  time,  were 
sent  to  London  for  publication.  Roger  Williams'  "The 
Bloody  Tenet  of  Persecution  for  Cause  of  Conscience,"  writ- 
ten by  Williams  while  visiting  in  London,  was  published  there 
in  1644.  A  copy  soon  reached  the  library  of  John  Cotton 
in  Boston,  who  saw  fit  to  reply  to  it.  The  reply,  "The  Bloody 
Tenet  washed  and  made  white  in  the  Blood  of  the  Lamb," 
was  sent  to  London,  where  it  appeared  in  1647.  When  this 
reached  Williams  in  Rhode  Island  he  wrote  a  second  book 
to  reply  to  Cotton's  argument,  "The  Bloody  Tenet  yet  more 
Bloody,  by  Mr.  Cotton's  Endeavor  to  wash  it  white  in  the 
Blood  of  the  Lamb."  This  also  crossed  the  ocean  for  publica- 
tion in  1652.  Thus  did  men  living  within  fifty  miles  of  each 
other  argue  over  a  range  of  six  thousand  miles  because  they 
were  writing  for  all  Englishmen  to  read.  Similarly,  elegies 
and  books  of  religious  verse  for  local  use,  such  as  "The  Bay 
Psalm  Book,"  were  printed  at  Cambridge;  but  the  first  vol- 
ume of  poetry  written  with  literary  intent,  Anne  Brad- 
street's  "The  Tenth  Muse,  lately  sprung  up  in  America,"  was 
sent  to  London  for  publication  in  1650. 

To  the  productions  of  the  press  at  Cambridge,  then,  must 
be  added  the  many  books  published  abroad.  These  were 
fewer  in  number,  but  really  amounted  to  more,  since  many 
of  the  Cambridge  volumes  were  merely  sermons,  or  thin 
pamphlets,  whereas  the  books  sent  to  England  were  generally 
full-fledged  books. 

Religious  books  were  numerous  among  those  printed  in 
England,  but  were  perhaps  exceeded  by  a  class  of  books 
almost  unknown  to  the  Cambridge  press,  descriptions  of 
America  or  of  life  in  America.  These  range  from  such  dis- 
cussions of  the  natural  history  of  the  region  as  Wood's  "New 
England's  Prospect"  and  Josselyn's  "New  England's  Rarities 
Discovered,"  to  such  defenses  against  those  who  published  un- 


84        Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

favorable  reports  of  conditions, either  physical,  political, or  re- 
ligious, in  New  England  as  Winslow's  "Good  News  from  New 
England"  and  Johnson's  "Wonder-Working  Providence." 

To  the  products  of  the  presses  on  both  sides  of  the  ocean 
certain  other  writings  must  be  added  if  we  are  to  get  a  fair 
estimate  of  the  activity  of  New  England  pens  during  these 
years.  Several  books,  among  them  some  which  rank  highest 
in  modern  estimates  of  the  period,  were  not  printed  until 
years  or  even  centuries  had  passed.  Such  are  Bradford's 
"History  of  Plymouth  Plantations,"  Winthrop's  "Journal,"^ 
and  Mason's  account  of  his  fight  with  the  Pequots  at  Mystic. 
Considerable  verse  also  escaped  publication,  some  until 
Cotton  Mather  wrote  his  "Magnalia  Christi,"  and  more  until 
antiquarian  interest  set  people  to  hunting  through  ancestral 
records. 

In  quantity,  it  is  evident,  the  literary  output  of  the  early 
colonists  was  considerable.  Its  quality  is  less  marked,  how 
much  less  depending  upon  the  standards  by  which  it  is 
tested.  Tested  in  comparison  with  the  best  which  England 
produced  in  the  seventeenth  century,  it  is  certainly  defi- 
cient. Tested  in  comparison  with  the  bulk  of  the  writings 
of  English  Puritans  during  the  same  period,  its  deficiency 
is  not  very  marked.  Surely  the  latter  test  is  the  fairer  one, 
and  William  Prynne  a  more  typical  author  with  whom  to 
compare  the  New  Englander  than  John  Milton. 

If  we  eliminate  poetry  from  the  discussion,  the  best  that 
New  England  produced  is  not  greatly  inferior  to  Milton's 
work.  In  Governor  Winthrop's  "Journal"  there  are  many 
eloquent  passages,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  much  of  it  was 
evidentlv  written  in  great  haste  at  odd  moments.  Governor 
Bradford's  style  in  his  "History"  is  remarkably  simple  and 
direct,  and  the  same  may  be  said  of  Winslow's  in  his  narra- 
tives.*   Roger  Williams  and  John  Winthrop,  Jr.,  also  wrote 

^  Sometimes  called  Winthrop's  History  of  New  England.    This  was  first  printed 

in  part  in  1790,  and  as  a  whole  in  1825.  Bradford's  History  was  printed  in  1856. 

*  It  must  be  remembered  that  Dryden  was  the  first  to  write  a  prose  which  can 


The  Production  of  Literature.  85 

effective  prose.  As  for  religious  literature,  it  is  impossible 
to  distinguish  between  that  produced  in  the  colony  and  in 
the  mother  country,  partly  because  so  many  of  the  leading 
divines  preached  and  published  their  sermons  with  equal 
satisfaction  to  hearers  and  readers  in  either  country.  That 
so  many  books  written  in  New  England  were  published  in 
London  is  further  evidence  that  a  voyage  to  America  did 
not  affect  either  the  ability  or  the  popularity  of  a  writer.  If 
no  great  literature  was  produced  by  the  Puritans  in  New 
England,  it  may  be  not  because  they  were  in  New  England, 
but  because  little  great  literature  was  produced  by  the  Pur- 
itans anywhere. 

It  is  only  when  we  turn  to  conscious  literature,  to  belles- 
lettres  and  especially  to  poetry,  that  we  find  any  decided 
inferiority  in  New  England.  Milton,  Marvell,  and  Wither 
have  no  rivals  there,  although  the  worst  of  Wither  has  per- 
haps nothing  to  distinguish  it  from  the  better  colonial  poems. 
But  we  must  not  forget  that  to  compare  Anne  Bradstreet 
with  Milton  may  be  unfair;  it  would  seem  more  just  to 
compare  her  with  Mrs.  Katharine  Philips  (Orinda),  her 
English  contemporary.  If  it  is  true  that  Mrs.  Bradstreet  is 
remembered  only  as  a  curiosity  of  American  literature,  it 
seems  just  as  true  that  Mrs.  Philips  is  not  remembered  at 
all.  This  IS  not  to  imply  that  the  poetry  of  Mrs.  Bradstreet 
or  of  her  neighbors  is  good  poetry,  but  to  warn  the  reader 
against  the  common  tendency  to  rate  it  lower  than  it  de- 
serves in  comparison  with  the  general  output  of  Puritan 
poetry  in  England  at  the  same  time. 

Funeral  elegies  were  a  custom  of  the  time,  a  custom  faith- 
fully observed  in  both  New  and  Old  England.^    Of  English 

be  called  modern,  that  is,  which  does  not  seem  somewhat  strange  to  a  modern  ear, 
and  that  his  first  separate  prose  publication,  the  Essay  of  Dramatic  Poesy,  did  not 
appear  until  1668,  practically  at  the  end  of  the  period  under  discussion. 

5  Samuel  Stone  of  Hartford  wrote  to  Thomas  Shepard  of  Cambridge,  July  19, 
1647,  "If  I  have  the  whole  winter,  you  may  think  whether  it  may  not  be  comely 
for  you  &  myselfe  &  some  other  Elders  to  make  a  few  verses  for  Mr.  Hooker 
&  inscribe  them  in  the  begin*^  of  his  book,  as  if  they  had  been  his  funerall  verses." 
(Mather  Papers,  p.  546.) 


86        Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

elegies  of  the  period  most  of  us  know  only  "Lycidas"  and  per- 
haps Marvell's  "Poem  upon  the  Death  of  his  Late  Highness 
the  Lord  Protector,"  and  when  we  read  the  colonial  elegies  we 
compare  them  with  these,  forgetting  that  these  are  quite 
exceptional.  And  the  fact  that  the  colonial  elegies  (because 
so  many  of  them  were  preserved  for  us  by  Morton  in  his 
"New  England's  Memorial"  and  by  Cotton  Mather  in  his 
"Magnalia  Christi,"  whereas  much  fugitive  poetry  undoubt- 
edly perished)  form  an  abnormally  large  part  of  the  whole 
body  of  colonial  poetry  gives  us  a  false  impression  of  the 
whole.  It  might  be  fairer  to  disregard  them  entirely  in  our 
estimates  of  colonial  poetry,  as  we  practically  do  disregard 
the  English  elegies  of  the  same  period  when  we  consider  Eng- 
lish poetry  of  the  seventeenth  century.'^  But  if  we  must  con- 
sider them,  let  us  compare  them  with  similar  elegies  pro- 
duced in  England.  The  colonial  ministers  wrote  elegies 
not  because  they  felt  themselves  to  be  poets,  but  because 
it  was  the  fitting  way  to  pay  tribute.  English  ministers  did 
the  same  for  the  same  reason.  Did  they  succeed  any  bet- 
ter? To  get  some  answer  to  this  question,  I  examined  the 
works  of  an  English  Puritan  divine,  well  known  and  popular 
both  as  a  preacher  and  as  a  writer  and  perhaps  typical,  to 
see  whether  he  ever  attempted  verse  or  not.  I  discovered 
that  Richard  Baxter  had  not  only  written  but  published  a 
volume  of  verse  which  went  through  three  editions  in  the 
seventeenth  century,  and  was  reprinted  in  1821.  One  of 
the  first  poems  I  read  was  an  elegy,  part  of  which  I  venture 
to  copy  here  for  comparison  with  one  of  the  colonial  elegies 
which  Professor  Tyler^  used  as  an  example  of  the  "elaborate 

*  Who  ever  reads  the  other  elegies  to  Edward  King  published  with  Lycidas? 
No  criticism  of  colonial  verse  is  more  severe  than  Professor  Masson's  remark 
(Globe  ed.  Milton,  p.  432),  "All  the  more  striking  must  it  have  been  for  a  reader 
who  had  toiled  through  the  trash  of  the  preceding  twelve  pieces  (I  have  read  them 
one  and  all,  and  will  vouch  that  they  are  trash)  to  come  at  length  upon  this  opening 
of  a  true  poem: — 

'Yet  once  more,  O  ye  laurels   .    .    .    .   '  " 

7  A  History  of  American  Literature,  i.  269. 


The  Production  of  Literature.  87 

and  painful  jests"  and  the  "ingenuities  of  allusion"  which 
characterized  them. 

Upon  the  Sight  of  Mr.  VINES  his  Posthumous  Treatise  on  the 
Sacrament,  Octob.  18,  1656.  who  dyed  a  little  before. 

While  thou  grew'st  here,  thy  fruit  made  glad 

The  hearts  that  sin  and  death  made  sad: 

Lest  we  would  surfeit  of  thy  fruit, 

Thy  Life  retired  to  the  root. 

Desiring  with  us  first  to  keep, 

A  Passover  before  thy  sleep:* 

Weary  of  Earth,  thou  took'st  thine  Ease, 

Passing  into  the  land  of  Peace: 

The  threatned  Evil  we  foresee, 

But  hope  to  hide  our  selves  with  Thee. 

Though  thou  art  gone,  while  we  must  fight, 

We'll  call  it  Victory,  not  Fight. 

When  God  hath  taken  up  this  VINE, 

We  thought  no  more  to  taste  its  Wine, 

Till  in  the  Land  of  Salem  s  King, 

We  drink  it  new,  even  from  the  Spring: 

But  unexpectedly  we  find, 

Some  Clusters  which  are  left  behind: 

This  Mantle  from  thy  Chariot  fell; 

We  know  it  by  the  pleasant  smell: 

Who  knows  but  from  this  little  seed 

Some  more  such  fruitful  Vines  may  breed? 

The  Tree  of  Death  bears  precious  Fruit, 

Though  in  the  Earth  it  have  no  Root. 


The  Soul  imboided  [imbodied]  in  those  Lines, 

Doth  make  us  say,  that.  This  is  VINES: 

And  if  our  Hearts  with  you  could  be; 

Our  Lord  would  say,  that  there  are  we. 

But  as  according  to  desert. 

The  Heavens  have  got  thy  better  part; 

*  He  dyed  suddenly  on  the  Lords  Day  at  night,  after  he  had  Preacht  and  Ad- 
ministred  the  Sacrament.     [Author's  note.] 


88        Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

And  left  us  but  some  of  the  Wine, 

Whilst  they  have  taken  up  the  Vine: 

So  we  look  up,  and  wait,  and  pray, 

And  yet  still  feel,  we  live  in  Clay. 

Here  we  are  keeping  sin's  account, 

While  some  small  sparks  do  upward  mount, 

Crying  "How  long.  Holy  and  True." 

Till  we  are  taken  up  to  you. 

Thus  also  we  must  follow  LOVE*, 

To  find  our  HEAD  and  LIFE  above. 

He  that  is  made  by  the  New-Birth, 

A  Buj-ges  of  the  Church  on  Earth, 

And  then  by  Faith  can  rise  so  high, 

In  Divine  LOVE  to  live  and  die. 

Shall  be  translated  to  your  soil, 

Remov'd  from  sin,  and  fear,  and  toil; 

And  from  this  House  of  Worms  &  Moles 

Unto  that  Element  of  Souls. 

Where  every  Branch  becomes  a  VINE; 

And  where  these  clods  like  stars  will  shine 

God  is  not  there  known  by  the  Book! 

You  need  not  there  the  pruning-hook: 

There  you  have  Wine  without  the  Press; 

And  God  his  praise  without  distress. 


A  Threnodia  upon  our  churches  second  dark  eclipse,  happening 
July  20,  1663,  by  death's  interposition  between  us  and  that  great 
light  and  divine  plant,  Mr.  Samuel  Stone,  late  of  Hartford,  in 
New  England.* 

Last  spring  this  summer  may  be  autumn  styl'd, 
Sad  withering  fall  our  beauties  which  despoil'd; 
Two  choicest  plants,  our  Norton  and  our  Stone, 

*  Mr.  A.  Burgesse  was  Minister  at  Lawrence  Church:  Mr.  Love  succeeded  him, 
and  was  beheaded  by  the  Remnant  of  the  Long  Parliament,  which  cut  off  the  K. 
for  sending  Money  to  some  about  the  present  King.  Mr.  Fines  succeeded  him. 
[Author's  note.] 

*  Chronicles  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers,  p.  197. 


The  Production  of  Literature.  89 

Your  justs  threw  down;  remov'd,  away  are  gone. 

One  year  brought  Stone  and  Norton  to  their  mother, 

In  one  year,  April,  July,  them  did  smother. 

Dame  Cambridge,  mother  to  this  darling  son; 

Emanuel,  Northampt'  that  heard  this  one, 

Essex,  our  bay,  Hartford,  in  sable  clad. 

Come  bear  your  parts  in  this  Threnodia  sad. 

In  losing  one,  church  many  lost:  O  then 

Many  for  one  come  be  sad  singing  men. 

May  nature,  grace  and  art  be  found  in  one 

So  high,  as  to  be  found  in  few  or  none. 

In  him  these  three  with  full  fraught  hand  contested, 

With  which  by  each  he  should  be  most  invested. 

The  largest  of  the  three,  it  was  so  great 

On  him,  the  stone  was  held  a  light  compleat, 

A  stone  more  than  the  Ebenezer  fam'd; 

Stone  splendent  diamond,  right  orient  nam'd; 

A  cordial  stone,  that  often  cheered  hearts 

With  pleasant  wit,  with  Gospel  rich  imparts; 

Whetstone,  that  edgify'd  th'  obtusest  mind; 

Loadstone,  that  drew  the  iron  heart  unkind; 

A  pond'rous  stone,  that  would  the  bottom  sound 

Of  Scripture  depths,  and  bring  out  Arcan's  found; 

A  stone  for  kingly  David's  use  so  fit, 

As  would  not  fail  Goliah's  front  to  hit; 

A  stone,  an  antidote,  that  brake  the  course 

Of  gangrene  error,  by  convincing  force; 

A  stone  acute,  fit  to  divide  and  square; 

A  squared  stone  became  Christ's  building  rare. 

A  Peter's  living,  lively  stone  (so  reared) 

As  'live  was  Hartford's  life;  dead,  death  is  fear'd. 

In  Hartford  old.  Stone  first  drew  infant  breath, 

In  New,  effused  his  last;  O  there  beneath 

His  corps  are  laid,  near  to  his  darling  brother,' 

Of  whom  dead  oft  he  sighed,  Not  such  another. 

Heaven  is  the  more  desirable,  said  he. 

For  Hooker,  Shepard,  and  Hayne's  company. 

E.  B.* 

'Thomas  Hooker,  Stone's  colleague,  had  died  in  1647. 
*  Supposed  to  be  Edward  Bulkley. 


90        Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

Both  poems  are  unquestionably  bad,  and  for  the  same 
chief  cause,  the  tendency  to  overdo  the  fantastic.  Of  the 
two,  I  do  not  feel  that  the  colonial  poem  is  the  worse,  for  it 
seems  to  me  that  it  has  more  form  and  that  the  playing  upon 
the  word  stone  is  better  managed  and  more  effective  than 
that  upon  the  word  vine. 

In  another  and  even  humbler  form  of  verse,  that  which 
appeared  in  the  almanacs  of  the  day,  a  form  generally,  and 
perhaps  deservedly,  neglected  by  students  of  literature,  the 
colonial  writers  were  also  not  inferior  to  those  of  the  mother 
country.  A  comparison  of  the  incomplete  file  of  seventeenth 
century  British  almanacs  in  the  Massachusetts  Historical 
Society  library  with  the  almanacs  published  in  Massachu- 
setts during  the  period  under  discussion,  shows  that  more 
colonial  almanacs  in  proportion  contain  verse,  that  they 
average  more  lines  of  verse  per  almanac,  and  that  in  general 
this  verse  exhibits  more  originality.  No  New  England  al- 
manac maker  found  it  necessary  to  repeat,  with  slight 
changes,  the  verses  which  he  had  used  the  year  before,  as 
Edward  Pond  did  in  his  almanac  for  1611,  nor  to  reprint 
verse  which  he  had  used  over  twenty  years  before,  as  Ralph 
Partridge  in  1705  drew  upon  his  own  "Merlinus  Redivivus" 
of  1684.  Most  of  the  verse  on  both  sides  of  the  water  is 
mechanical  rhyming  upon  the  trite  topics  of  the  changing 
seasons,  the  influence  of  signs  of  the  zodiac,  astrological 
advice,  or  the  possibilities  of  the  coming  year.  Three  of  the 
American  almanacs,  however,  show  some  originality.  Sam- 
uel Danforth's  "An  Almanack  for  the  Year  of  our  Lord  1649" 
contains  an  eighty-eight  line  poem  followed  by  an  eight  line 
prognostication,  the  whole  planned  to  fit  the  almanac  with 
eight  lines  at  the  head  of  each  month.  The  poem  is  an 
elaborate  and  not  ineffective  (though  not  very  poetical) 
allegorical  account  of  the  settlement  of  New  England  and 
the  trials  of  the  colonists.  Hurricanes,  Indian  uprisings, 
the  "antinomian"  errors  of  Mrs.  Hutchinson,  plagues  of 
pigeons  and  army  worms,  and  even  echoes  of  the  troubles 


The  Production  ol  Literature.  9  i 

in  England,  are  brought  into  this  account  of  the  "Orphan" 
driven  from  "England's  armes"  into  the  wilderness.  Josiah 
Flint's  "Almanack"  for  1666  contains  a  history  of  the  Jews  in 
rhyme.  John  Richardson's  "Almanack"  for  1670  furnishes  an 
example  of  a  quality  generally  lacking  in  colonial  literature 
— humor.  "The  Countryman's  Apocrypha,"  as  the  main 
poem  is  called,  is  a  satire  upon  the  vulgar  belief  in  and  love 
of  marvels.  The  satire  is  exaggerated  and  the  humor  is 
blunt;^"  but  there  is  nothing  trite  or  conventional  about 
the  poem.  Neither  English  nor  colonial  almanacs  printed 
selections  from  real  poetry  at  this  time;  that  custom  was 
not  established  until  the  second  quarter  of  the  eighteenth 
century.  Those  who  depended  upon  the  annual  almanac 
for  their  literature  had  meager  fare;  but  they  were  at  no 
disadvantage  if  they  lived  in  New  England. 

In  attempting  to  determine  the  quality  of  the  literature 
produced  by  the  people  of  New  England  it  must  not  be  for- 
gotten that  in  so  far  as  they  were  consciously  writing,  they 
were  writing  for  their  contemporaries,  and  that,  in  conse- 
quence, it  should   be  judged   by  their  standards.     To  us 

"The  following  lines  are  characteristic: 

'The  Moon  is  habitable,  some  averre; 
And  that  some  Creatures  have  their  Dwelling  there; 
Judge  what  you  please;  but  yet  'tis  very  true, 
This  year  the  Moon  a  Pair  of  Horns  will  shew. 

The  satire  at  the  expense  of  the  ignorant  aroused  the  ire  of  Samuel  Bailey  of 
Little  Compton,  who  wrote  in  reply  The  College  Ferula,  the  almanac,  printed  at 
Cambridge,  being  considered  a  college  product.  Bailey's  poem,  sent  to  John 
Whipple,  town  clerk  of  Providence,  lay  hidden  in  manuscript  among  the  town 
records  until  1840.     It  is  a  better  poem  than  the  other.     It  concludes: 

These  are  grave  sophisters,  that  are  in  schools 

So  wise  they  think  their  aged  fathers, fools 

That  plough  and  cart;  and  such  they  are  indeed 

Or  else  they  would  not  work  so  hard,  to  breed 

Their  boys  to  flout  them;  but  I  cannot  stay 

Fodderirig  of  asses  thus;  I  must  away 

And  give  my  sheep  their  breakfast,  who,  I  fear. 

Wait  at  the  stack,  while  I  write  verses  here. 

The  entire  poem  is  printed  in  the  New  England  Historical  and  Genealogical 
Register,  ix.  356. 


92         Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

much  that  they  wrote  seems  absurd,  and  such  effusions  as 
"The  Bay  Psalm  Book"  and  Wigglesworth's  "The  Day  of 
Doom"  are  held  up  for  ridicule  in  almost  every  history  or  col- 
lection of  American  literature.  Yet  contemporary  England 
found  nothing  absurd  in  them.  "The  Day  of  Doom"  was  twice 
reprinted  in  England,"  and  "The  Bay  Psalm  Book"  passed 
through  eighteen  editions  in  England,  the  last  in  1754,  and 
twenty-two  editions  in  Scotland,  the  last  in  1759.*^  The 
latter  was  popular  in  the  mother  country  long  after  Tate 
and  Brady's  version  had  supplanted  it  in  some  of  the  New 
England  churches. ^^  Perhaps  New  England  taste  was  not 
abnormal  or  even  peculiar;  perhaps  it  is  only  the  popular 
taste  of  seventeenth  century  England  on  either  side  of  the 
water  which  seems  so  strange,  and  which,  met  almost  solely 
in  the  poetry  of  New  England  (since  few  read  the  equivalent 
poetry  written  in  England,  there  being  so  much  that  is 
better),  gives  us  a  false  impression  of  colonial  taste  and 
literary  culture. 

We  expect  too  much  of  early  New  England  literature, 
then,  if  we  attempt  to  compare  it  solely  with  the  best  of 
contemporary  literature;  and  we  are  also  unfair  to  New 
England  when  we  compare  its  production  with  that  of  all 
England — the  colony  in  its  earliest  years  with  the  mother 
country.  It  would  be  fairer  to  compare  the  colonies  with 
some  district  of  England, — to  compare  Boston  in  New  Eng- 

"  At  London  in  1673,  ^""^  ^^  Newcastle  in  171 1. 

"  Truebner,  Bibliographical  Guide  to  American  Literature,  p.  viii.  Thomas 
Prince  wrote  in  the  preface  to  the  version  of  1758,  "I  found  in  England  it  was  by 
some  eminent  Congregations  prefer'd  to  all  Others  in  their  Publick  Worship,  even 
down  to  1717,  when  I  last  left  that  Part  of  the  British  Kingdom."  (Sewall's 
Diary,  iii.  16  note.) 

'^  "A  sing  lecture  att  y^  north  Brick.  Mr.  Coleman  preached  from  those  words 
"They  sung  a  new  song"  .  .  .  Sung  Tate  &  Brady  4  psalms  ..."  (Diary 
of  Jeremiah  Bumstead,  September  21,  1722,  in  the  New  England  Historical  and 
Genealogical  Register,  xv.  196.)  An  edition  of  Tate  and  Brady's  Psalms,  "for  the 
use  of  her  Majesty's  Chapel  in  America,"  was  published  at  Boston  in  1713. 
(Thomas,  History  of  Printing,  ii.  367.)  Copies  of  the  English  version  were  on  sale 
in  Boston  as  early  as  1700,  five  copies  being  listed  in  the  inventory  of  the  estate 
of  Michael  Perry,  Bookseller.     (Ford,  The  Boston  Book  Market,  p.  176.) 


The  Production  of  Literature.  93 

land  and  the  district  around  it  with  Boston  in  Old  England 
and  the  surrounding  county  of  Lincolnshire.  Thomas  Fuller 
in  his  Lincolnshire  section  of  "The  Worthies  of  England" 
mentions  the  following  as  writers  since  the  Reformation:  Ed- 
mund ShefFeild,  Peter  Morwing,  Anthony  Gilby,  John  Fox, 
Dr.  Thomas  Sparks,  Dr.  Tighe,  and  Fines  Morison.  The 
editor  of  the  1840  edition  of  the  "Worthies"  adds  a  list  of 
writers  since  Fuller's  time.  The  only  names  in  that  list 
which  come  within  the  period  of  the  entire  first  century  of 
colonial  life  are  Susannah  Centlivre  and  Sir  Charles  Cot- 
terell,  the  translator  of  "Cassandra."  Such  limited  literary 
activity  as  these  names  represent  would  not  indicate  that 
New  England  was,  by  comparison,  sterile  soil  for  liter- 
ature. 

The  preceding  attempt  to  determine  a  fair  standard  by 
which  to  judge  of  the  quality  of  colonial  writings  partly 
explains  why  the  early  colonists  did  not  produce  a  finer 
literature  than  they  did;  they  were  producing  the  literature 
which,  in  general,  their  class  in  England  produced.  The 
earlier  chapters  have  shown  that  their  education  and  literary 
culture  were  not  greatly  affected  by  their  removal  to  a  new 
land.  For  just  that  reason  their  literary  activity  was  little 
affected  by  their  change.  If  no  fine  poetry  was  produced, 
it  was  because  the  Puritans  had  few  poets  of  ability  and  of 
them  none  chose  to  come  to  New  England.  Poets  of  little 
ability  seem  to  have  been  uninfluenced  by  emigration. 
John  Wilson  wrote  much  poor  poetry  in  New  England;  but 
there  seems  to  be  no  evidence  that  the  volume  which  he 
published  in  England  in  1626  before  he  came  contained  any 
better  poetry.  If  a  poet  of  real  ability  had  come  to  Boston, 
he  would  not  have  ceased  to  be  a  poet.  If  John  Milton,  for 
instance,  had  been  driven  over  by  the  Restoration,  I  see  no 
reason  why  he  could  not  have  developed  "Paradise  Lost"  as 
well  as  in  England.  There  is  a  possibility  that  the  busy  life 
of  a  young  colony  might  in  some  cases  have  militated  some- 
what against  the  production  of  poetry,  but  that  would  not 


94         I>iterary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

have  affected  Milton,  whose  blindness  would  have  ensured 
to  him  the  leisure  necessary  for  his  work. 

The  really  remarkable  thing  about  the  literature  of  New 
England  in  its  earliest  days  is  that  there  is  as  much  of  it  as 
there  is,  and  that  it  is  as  good  as  it  is.  There  were  certainly 
many  things  which  might  have  hampered  and  probably  did 
hamper  literary  work.  The  lack  of  leisure  time,  already  men- 
tioned, might  have  hindered  some,  although  the  ministers 
and  some  of  the  wealthier  men  would  have  been  free  from 
this  handicap.  The  necessity  of  sending  all  material,  at 
first,  to  England  for  publication,  and  of  sending  much  even 
after  a  press  was  established  at  Cambridge,  may  have  been 
a  restraining  influence.  Still  another  was  the  rigid  censor- 
ship of  the  colonial  press,  little  used  during  this  period,  as 
far  as  the  records  show,  but  nevertheless  always  in  existence, 
as  shown  by  the  fining  of  Marmaduke  Johnson  for  printing 
without  authority  in  1668,^'*  and  by  the  stopping  of  a  par- 
tially printed  edition  of  Thomas  a  Kempis  in  1669.^^  The 
narrowness  of  some  of  the  leaders  may  have  had  a  repressing 
influence  upon  freedom  of  expression. ^^  There  was  no  lit- 
erary circle  for  the  mutual  encouragement  of  those  who 
might  be  interested  in  the  production  of  literature,  and  no 

'4  Johnson,  associated  with  Bartholomew  Green  at  the  Cambridge  Press,  printed 
without  authority  The  Isle  of  Pines,  a  pamphlet  of  the  Baron  Munchausen  order, 
already  popular  in  England.  For  this  offence  he  was  fined  £5.  (Massachusetts 
Historical  Society,  Proceedings,  2d  Series,  xi.  247-249.) 

'5  "The  Court,  being  informed  that  there  is  now  in  the  presse,  reprinting,  a 
booke,  tit  Imitacons  of  Christ,  or  to  y'  purpose,  written  by  Thomas  a  Kempis,  a 
Popish  minister,  wherein  is  conteyned  some  things  that  are  less  safe  to  be  infused 
among  the  people  of  this  place,  doe  comend  it  to  the  licensers  of  the  press,  the 
more  full  revisall  thereof,  &  that  in  the  meane  tjme  there  be  no  further  progresse 
in  that  worke."  (Massachusetts  Colony  Records,  iv.  Part  11,  p.  424.)  As  no  copy 
of  an  Imitatio  Christi  printed  in  New  England  at  this  time  has  ever  been  discov- 
ered, the  licensers  evidently  decided  that  suppression  was  preferable  to  revision. 
(Diary  of  Cotton  Mather,  ii.  582  note.) 

»' Thomas  Shepard  found  it  necessary  to  write  to  Governor  Winthrop,  "Your 
apprehensions  agaynst  reading  &  learning  heathen  authors,  I  perswade  myselfe 
were  suddenly  suggested,  &  will  easily  be  answered  by  B:  Dunstar,  if  yow  should 
impart  them  to  him."     (Winthrop  Papers,  ii.  272.) 


The  Production  of  Literature.  95 

sufficient  home  market  for  any  work  of  a  purely  artistic 
nature.  In  spite  of  all  this,  a  great  deal  was  written,  and 
a  large  part  of  what  was  written  was  in  the  form  of  verse. 
Professor  Tyler  remarks, ^^  with  perhaps  unnecessary  sar- 
casm, upon  the  almost  universal  tendency  to  attempt  to 
write  verse.  If  they  did  not  succeed  in  writing  much  good 
verse,  it  was  not  for  lack  of  effort.  That  they  wrote  some 
real  poetry  must  be  acknowledged.^** 

It  seems  safe  to  conclude  that  the  early  New  England 
colonists  wrote  more  than  they  would  have  written  had  they 
remained  in  England,  and  that  the  quality  of  their  work  was 
not  lowered  by  their  removal,  or  by  any  lack  of  opportunities 
for  culture  in  the  new  home. 

''  History  of  American  Literature,  i.  267. 

•'  Anne  Bradstreet's  Contemplations  and  some  of  her  shorter  pieces,  Wiggles- 
worth's  Vanity  of  Vanities  and  certain  stanzas  of  The  Day  of  Doom,  Edward 
Johnson's  From  Silent  Night,  True  Register  of  Moans,  are  instances  of  poems 
which  have  poetic  merit. 


Part  II: 
The  End  of  the  Seventeenth  Century. 

1670-1  700. 


chapter  VI:   Education. 


WHEN  President  Charles  Chauncy  of  Harvard  died 
in  1672,  the  college  ceased  to  be  in  the  control  of 
those  who  had  been  educated  in  England,  and 
was  managed  thereafter  by  its  own  graduates.  Leonard 
Hoar,  his  successor,  had  taken  his  first  degree  at  Harvard 
in  i6';o,  and  his  three  successors,  Urian  Oakes,  John  Rogers, 
and  Increase  Mather,  had  graduated  there,  the  first  two  in 
1649,  ^^d  ^he  third  in  1656.^  The  change  seems  to  have  had 
little  effect  upon  the  quality  of  the  work  done  in  the  college, 
partly,  perhaps,  because  even  before  this  Harvard  gradu- 
ates, as  tutors,  had  done  much  of  the  teaching.^  Another 
reason  for  the  slight  effect  of  the  change  may  have  been 
that  three  of  the  four  successors  of  President  Chauncy  had 
either  studied  or  lived  in  England  after  finishing  their 
courses  at  Harvard.  Leonard  Hoar  went  to  England  in 
1653  and  preached  for  some  time  at  Wanstead.  He  later 
studied  medicine  at  Cambridge,  taking  the  degree  of  Doctor 
of  Medicine  in  1671.^  While  living  in  England  he  married 
the  daughter  of  Lord  Lisle.'*  Urian  Oakes  went  to  England 
soon  after  graduating,  and  there  became  pastor  of  a  church 
at  Titchfield.  Being  silenced  at  the  Restoration,  he  ac- 
cepted the  call  of  the  church  at  Cambridge,  Massachusetts, 
and  was  soon  after  chosen  President. s  Increase  Mather 
studied   at  Trinity   College,   Dublin,  gaining  the  Master's 

'  Magnalia,  ii.  30. 

^  Ibid.,  passim.  George  Downing  and  John  Bulkly,  Harvard  1642,  had  been 
the  first  tutors. 

3  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Collections,  ist  ieries,  vi.  100  note;  Mag- 
nalia, ii.  14. 

*  Ibid.  Mrs.  Hoar's  mother  was  the  unfortunate  Lady  Alice  Lisle,  cruelly 
beheaded  at  Winchester  in  1685  for  giving  refuge  to  fugitives  from  Monmouth's 
defeated  forces. 

s  Ibid.,  ii.  115,  116. 


I  oo      Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

degree,  and  being  offered  a  fellowship  which  he  declined. 
He  also  preached  in  the  island  of  Guernsey  before  returning 
to  New  England.^ 

The  arrival  of  Charles  Morton  in  1686  and  his  appoint- 
ment in  1692  as  fellow  and  in  1697  as  vice  president  of 
Harvard  brought  to  the  colony  and  the  college  a  valuable 
cultural  influence,  for  Morton  had  been  a  fellow  of  Wadham 
College,.  Oxford,  and  for  years  a  successful  teacher  in  Lon- 
don. When  he  was  appointed  vice  president  it  was  planned 
that  in  time  he  should  succeed  to  the  presidency,^  but  he 
died  in  1698  while  Increase  Mather  was  still  president. 
Upon  his  arrival  he  read  lectures  on  philosophy  at  his  own 
home;  but  the  lectures  attracted  so  many  from  the  college 
that  he  was  requested  to  abandon  them.^ 

Such  contact  with  England  and  English  scholastic  life 
must  have  had  considerable  effect  in  keeping,  the  college 
from  becoming  too  provincial.  Its  standing  was  still  suffi- 
ciently good  to  attract  at  least  one  student  from  England. 
Nathaniel  Mather  of  Dublin  wrote  to  his  brother  Increase, 
then  newly  chosen  president,  December  31,  1684: 

.  .  .  one  Mr.  Rich.  Lob,  merchant  in  London,  who  marryed  my 
sister  Thompson,  desyres  me  to  write  in  behalf  of  this  gentleman, 
the  bearer,  his  kinsman  Mr.  Penhallow  of  Falmouth  in  Cornwall, 
who  designs  to  spend  a  year  or  two  in  New  England,  in  the  Col- 
ledg,  for  the  perfecting  of  his  learning,  hee  having  lived  3  or  4 
years  under  the  instructions  of  one  Mr.  Morton  .  .  .  who  is 
constreyned  to  withdraw  by  reason  of  Capias's  upon  an  Excom- 
municacon.9 

One  unfavorable  picture  of  Harvard  during  this  period 

*  See  p.  21,  above. 

'Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Collections,  2d  Series,  i.  158  fF;  Eggleston, 
Transit  of  Civilization,  p.  45;  Dictionary  of  National  Biography.  One  of  his 
pupils  in  England  had  bee  1  Daniel  Defoe.  He  brought  two  students  with  him. 
At  his  death  Morton  left  a  sum  of  £50  to  Harvard,  and  his  funeral  was  attended 
by  the  officers  and  students  of  Harvard  in  a  body. 

*  See  Mather  Papers,  pp.  iii,  112,  for  the  letter  requesting  him  not  to  compete 
with  the  college. 

»  Mather  Papers,  p.  59. 


Education.  loi 

exists  in  the  account  of  the  visit  to  it  of  Jasper  Danckaerts, 
a  Dutch  scholar,  in  1680.  In  reading  this  it  must  be  re- 
membered that  when  the  visit  occurred  Harvard  had  been 
four  years  without  a  president,  and  had  not  recovered  from 
the  disturbances  and  quarrels  which  led  to  the  resignation 
and  death  of  President  Hoar.  Urian  Oakes,  referred  to  at 
the  end  of  the  account,  had  been  chosen  president,  but  was 
not  yet  installed.  The  graduates  of  1680  were  but  five,  and 
in  1682  none  took  degrees.'" 

We  reached  Cambridge  about  eight  o'clock.  It  is  not  a  large 
village,  and  the  houses  stand  very  much  apart.  The  college 
building  is  the  most  conspicuous  among  them.  We  went  to  it, 
expecting  to  see  something  unusual,  as  it  is  the  only  college,  or 
would-be  academy  of  the  Protestants  in  all  America,  but  we 
found  ourselves  mistaken.  In  approaching  the  house  we  neither 
heard  nor  saw  anything  mentionable;  but,  going  to  the  other 
side  of  the  building,  we  heard  noise  enough  in  an  upper  room  to 
lead  niy  comrade  to  say,  "I  believe  they  are  engaged  in  disputa- 
tion." We  entered  and  went  upstairs,  when  a  person  met  us,  and 
requested  us  to  walk  in,  which  we  did.  We  found  there  eight  or 
ten  young  fellows,  sitting  around,  smoking  tobacco,  with  the 
smoke  of  which  the  room  was  so  full,  that  you  could  hardly  see; 
and  the  whole  house  smelt  so  strong  of  it  that  when  I  was  going 
upstairs  I  said,  "It  certainly  must  be  also  a  tavern."  We  excused 
ourselves,  that  we  could  speak  English  only  a  little,  but  under- 
stood Dutch  or  French  well,  which  they  did  not.  However,  we 
spoke  as  well  as  we  could.  We  inquired  how  many  professors 
there  were,  and  they  replied  not  one,  that  there  was  not  enough 
money  to  support  one.  We  asked  how  many  students  there  were. 
They  said  at  first,  thirty,  and  then  came  down  to  twenty;  I 
afterwards  understood  there  are  probably  not  ten."  They  knew 
hardly  a  word  of  Latin,  not  one  of  them,  so  that  my  comrade  could 
not  converse  with  them.  They  took  us  to  the  library  where  there 
was  nothing  particular.     We  looked  over  it  a  little.     They  pre- 

"  Magnalia,  ii.  31. 

"  The  number  was  exactly  thirty,  seventeen  undergraduates  and  thirteen 
graduates,  according  to  Cotton  Mather's  lists  of  the  graduates  of  the  classes  then 
in  Harvard,  Urian  Oakes  of  the  class  of  1678  having  died  in  1679.    (Magnalia,  ii.  31). 


I02      Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

sented  us  with  a  glass  of"  wine.  This  is  all  we  ascertained  there. 
The  minister  of  the  place  goes  over  there  morning  and  evening  to 
make  prayer,  and  has  charge  over  them;  besides  him,  the  students 
are  under  tutors  or  masters." 

As  for  the  inadequacy  of  the  Harvard  Latin  so  severely 
criticized  by  Danckaerts,  the  fault  may  have  been  in  Dutch 
ears,  in  different  methods  of  pronunciation,  or  in  youthful 
shyness  in  the  presence  of  strangers.  Cotton  Mather,  v^^ho 
had  taken  his  first  degree  at  sixteen  just  two  years  before 
this,  and  at  this  time  was  pursuing  advanced  studies,  states 
that  pupils  were  required  to  speak  true  Latin,  and  to  write 
it  in  verse  as  well  as  prose,  before  they  could  enter  Har- 
vard; and  he  boasts  that  commencement  orations  were  de- 
livered in  Latin,  Greek,  and  Hebrew,  and  even  in  verse  of 
all  three. '^  No  one  familiar  with  his  writings  can  doubt 
Mather's  fluency — at  least  in  quoting  Latin. 

It  is  worth  mention  here  that  two  members  of  the  class 
which  was  to  have  degrees  conferred  upon  it  in  a  few  days 
after  this  visit,  William  Brattle  and  John  Leverett,  later 
became  tutors  of  Harvard  and,  during  Increase  Mather's 
three  and  one-half  years'  absence  in  England,  had  complete 
charge  of  the  teaching.  Among  the  men  whom  they  taught 
in  those  years  were  Paul  Dudley,  later  Attorney  General 
of  the  Colony,  Samuel  Mather,  who  became  pastor  of  a 
church  in  England,  Benjamin  Wadsworth,  later  president 
of  the  college,  and  Benjamin  Colman,  leader  in  the  religious 
and  literary  activities  of  Boston  during  the  next  two  genera- 
tions. The  students  whom  Danckaerts  pictured  so  unfavora- 
bly were  capable  of  training  men  of  ability,  and  Leverett 
himself  was  later  chosen  president  of  Harvard;    both  Lever- 

"  Journal  of  Jasper  Danckaerts,  p.  266,  under  date  of  July  9.  Danckaerts' 
whole  account  of  conditions  in  and  around  Boston  is  marked  by  an  evident  lack 
of  sympathy  and  a  willingness,  if  not  an  eagerness,  to  find  faults. 

'3  Magnalia,  ii.  12.  More  than  half  of  the  students  who  were  in  Harvard  at 
this  time  became  clergymen,  and  as  such  they  would  have  to  have  some  fluency 
in  speaking  Latin. 


Education.  103 

ett  and  Brattle  were  honored  by  election  as  Fellows  of  the 
Royal  Society.''' 

The  following  criticism  of  Cambridge  University,  England, 
in  1 7 10 — forty  years  later — also  by  a  foreigner,  one  Offen- 
bach, a  German  savant,  as  given  by  Mullinger,  should  be 
taken  into  consideration  when  attempting  to  judge  of  con- 
ditions at  Harvard. 

[This]  keen-eyed  traveller,  in  visiting  the  other  colleges  [be- 
sides Trinity,  whose  hall  he  found  dirty  and  "smelly"],  could 
not  but  be  struck  by  the  indifference  evinced  for  the  higher 
interests  of  learning.  At  Caius  College  he  found  the  manuscripts 
placed  in  "a  miserable  garret  under  the  roof,"  and  lying  "thick 
with  dust"  on  the  floor.  At  Magdalene  all  the  books  were  "en- 
tirely overgrown  with  mould."  ...  At  Trinity  Hall,  the  library 
appeared  to  him  "very  mean,  consisting  only  of  a  few  law  books." 
At  Emmanuel,  the  books,  though  "respectable  in  number,"  stood 
"in  entire  confusion."  At  Peterhouse,  the  manuscripts  were 
"buried  in  dust"  and  in  the  greatest  disorder.  At  the  University 
Library,  a  rare  codex  of  Josephus  being  "torn  at  the  end,"  the 
library-keeper  obligingly  presented  him  with  a  leaf!'^ 

Nathaniel  Mather,  of  Dublin,  writing  in  1686,  seems  well 
satisfied  with  the  scholarship  of  Harvard,  although  he 
criticizes  some  details: 

The  method  of  these,  &  the  last  years  Theses  is  in  my  judgmt 
better  than  an[y]  I  have  seen  formerly.  But  the  grammar  of 
some  of  [them]  might  bee  mended,  e.  g.,  in  Thes.  2,  ...  it 
should  have  been  fj'oducarit,  not  producerent;  .  .  .  But  I  per- 
ceive the  Cartesian  philosophy  begins  to  obteyn  in  New  England, 
&  if  I  conjecture  aright  the  Copernican  System  too.  There  should 
also  in  a  thing  coming  out  from  scholars  in  an  university,  have 
been  more  care  taken  of  orthography,  e.  g.  Thes.  Phys.  28,  nitrolis 
for  nitrosis;  and  Pbillipsius  should  not  bee  with  a  double  p.^* 

There  is  little  evidence  in  this  period  of  the  attitude  of 

'4  Publications  of  the  Colonial  Society  of  Massachusetts,  xiv.  291;  Sibley,  Har- 
vard Graduates,  iii.  183. 

's  Mullinger,  History  of  Cambridge,  p.  168. 
'^  Mather  Papers,  p.  63. 


I04      Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

the  English  universities  toward  Harvard;  for  after  the 
Restoration  few  Harvard  men  were  tempted  to  England 
either  for  study  or  to  seek  for  churches.  Cotton  Mather 
and  Thomas  Brattle,  like  William  Brattle  and  John  Lever- 
ett,  were  honored  by  being  chosen  Fellows  of  the  Royal  So- 
ciety;'' the  former  was  given  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Di- 
vinity by  the  University  of  Glasgow  in  1710;'*  and  Jeremiah 
Dummer,  Harvard  1699,  was  given  the  degree  of  Doctor  of 
Philosophy  at  Utrecht  in  1703.''  Benjamin  Colman,  Har- 
vard 1692,  was  also  given  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity 
by  the  University  of  Glasgow  in  1731.'°  Samuel  Myles, 
Harvard  1684,  and  William  Vesey,  Harvard  1693,  received 
the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts  from  Oxford  in  1693  and  1697.^^ 
One  other  possible  evidence  of  Harvard's  standing  in  the 
world  of  scholarship  is  found  in  a  statement  of  Increase 
Mather  writing  of  the  college  in  1689: 

.  .  .  the  Learned  Men  there  have  a  corresponding  communi- 
cation with  other  Learned  Men  in  divers  parts  of  the  World, 
where  the  Reformed  Religion  is  professed,  and  by  them  [are] 
highly  reverenced  for  their  Learning  and  Sobriety." 

In  this  period,  then,  Harvard  had  come  to  hold  a  much  less 
important  place  in  the  English  speaking  world  than  it  had 
held  in  the  first  period,  and  to  that  extent  had  become  pro- 
vincial; but  this  change  had  not  greatly  affected  the  quality 
of  scholarship,  and  had,  if  anything,  increased  the  influence 
of  the  college  in  the  colonies.     There  were  few  Oxford  or 

"  Publications  of  the  Colonial  Society  of  Massachusetts,  xiv.  8i  ff;  Narratives 
of  the  Witchcraft  Cases,  p.  167. 

'*  Sibley,  Harvard  Graduates,  iii.  39. 

'9  Sewall,  Letter-Book,  i.  302. 

"Turell,  Life  of  Benjamin  Colman,  p.  157. 

"  Publications  of  the  Colonial  Society  of  Massachusetts,  xviii.  210,  n.  i.  The  last 
two  degrees  were  awards  to  men  who  had  adopted  Episcopalianism,  and  that  to 
Colman  was  given  at  the  request  of  Governor  Belcher.  If  they  were  not  always 
rewards  for  scholastic  ability  solely,  at  least  they  showed  that  the  British  universi- 
ties were  willing  to  recognize  Harvard  officially  through  such  honors  to  her  gradu- 
ates. 

"  A  Brief  Relation  of  the  State  of  New  England,  Andros  Tracts,  ii.  i6a. 


Education.  105 

Cambridge  men  to  compete  with  the  Harvard  men.  Cotton 
Mather,  speaking  of  the  influence  of  Harvard  in  1696,  states 
that  of  87  ministers  in  Massachusetts,  76  were  Harvard 
graduates,  and  of  35  in  Connecticut,  31  were  from  Harvard. ^^ 
As  to  the  quahty  of  the  scholarship,  one  or  two  more  illus- 
trations may  be  given.  Nathaniel  Mather,  brother  of  Cotton 
Mather,  graduating  from  Harvard  in  1685  at  the  age  of  six- 
teen, was  sufficiently  skilled  in  mathematics  and  astronomy 
to  figure  out  the  statistics  and  calculations  of  almanacs  for 
the  years  1685  and  1686,  which  he  published.'''  Samuel 
Sewall,  Harvard  1671,  seems  to  have  had  a  sound  classical 
training.  Dr.  William  Everett,  in  referring  to  Sewall's 
original  English  and  Latin  poems,  says, 

...  in  the  latter,  at  least,  the  metre  is  irreproachable,  ac- 
cording to  the  rules  of  quantity  as  recognized  by  the  scholars  of 
his  time.  An  exhaustive  examination  of  the  verses  in  the  Diary 
leaves  no  doubt  on  this  subject.^^ 

Sewall  also  shows  his  scholarship  elsewhere.     In  a  letter  he 

writes: 

There  is  mention  made  of  a  new  Translation  of  the  Bible: 
If  it  go  forward,  I  would  propound  One  Word  of  amendment: 
John,  10.  16.  The  Word  (Fold)  in  the  latter  part  of  the  verse 
ought  to  be  changed  for  the  word(  Flock) .^^  The  new  French 
Translation  has  it  {Un  seul  tropeau)  I  have  a  Latin  Testament 
printed  Parisijs  ex  officina  Rob.  Stephani  typographi  Regij  M.  D. 
XLV.  He  seems  to  be  scrupulous  in  departing  from  the  Vulgar 
Latin;  yet  has  this  Marginal  Reading  {ut  fiat  iinus  grex)  Beza 
in  his  latter  edition,  has  {grex^  Tremellius  his  Translation  of  the 
Syriack,  runs  thus  {fietq\u\e  totus  grex  unus)     In  reading  Austin 

«  Magnalia,  i.  86. 

'"t  The  Boston  Ephemeris,  an  Almanack  for  the  year  1685  [and  the  same  for 
1686].  Many  of  the  Boston  almanacs  of  the  seventeenth  century  were  compiled 
by  the  graduates  of  Harvard  who  were  continuing  their  studies  in  residence  after 
graduation.     Such  resident  bachelors  specialized  in  astronomy  and  mathematics. 

*5  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Proceedings,  2d  Series,  iv.  80. 

^  This  change  was  made  in  the  revised  version  of  1881,  as  the  editors  of  the 
Letter-Book  pointed  out. 


io6      Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

upon  the  Psalms,  I  have  often  met  with,  {Unus  grex,  unus  pastor) 
Psal.  71.  Col.  780.  Psal.  77.  Col.  852.  Psal.  78.  Col.  878.  ter 
legitnr.  I  do  not  see  that  the  word  is  any  where  else  translated 
(Fold).  In  Act.  20.  28,  29,  and  i  Pet.  5.  2,  3,  the  word  is  of  the 
same  Origination,  though  of  the  Neuter  Gender,  and  is  still 
rendred  (Flock). ^^ 

On  one  occasion  he  reports  that  he  and  a  friend  spent  the 
evening  reading  Latin  verse  to  each  other.'*  In  another 
letter  he  discusses  the  "enetymology"  of  the  word  "Lor- 
dane,  by  Corruption,  Lurdane;  ....  Though  your  Eng- 
lish Dictionary  carrys  it  another  way,"''  The  following 
memorandum  in  his  "Letter-Book"  also  indicates  his  interest 
in  study: 

To  Mr.  Stretton,  to  buy  Bellarmine,  two  volumes,  polemical 
works,  fair  print.  Some  Spanish  Books;  Barthol.  de  las  Casas  in 
Spanish,  and  in  English  too;  Gramar  and  Dictionary,  if  to  be 
had;  and  what  else  you  shall  see  convenient  for  my  purpose  of 
getting  a  Smattering  of  the  Spanish  tongue. 3° 

Somewhat  later  Cotton  Mather  also  became  interested  in 
Spanish,  as  is  shown  by  his  own  account: 

About  this  Time,  understanding  that  the  way  for  our  Com- 
munication with  the  Spanish  Indies,  opens  more  and  more,  I 
sett  myself  to  learn  the  Spanish  Language.  The  Lord  wonderfully 
prospered  mee  in  this  Undertaking;  a  few  liesure  Minutes  in  the 
Evening  of  every  Day,  in  about  a  Fortnight,  or  three  weeks 
Time,  so  accomplished  mee,  I  could  write  very  good  Spanish. 
Accordingly,  I  composed  a  little  Body  of  the  Protestant  Religion, 
in  certain  Articles   .    .    .   This  I  turn'd  into  the  Spanish  Tongue.^' 

^^  Letter-Book,  i.  297. 

^8  "Mr.  Bradstreet  read  to  me  Chrysostom's  going  out  of  Constantinople  into 
Banishment;  and  I  read  his  Return;  both  in  Latin,  very  entertaining.  'Twas 
occasion'd  by  my  mentioning  the  two  foHos  I  had  given  him.  I  offered  to  give 
Dr.  Mather's  Church  History  for  them  and  put  them  into  the  Library.  It  seems 
Mr.  Bradstreet  has  all  the  Eton  Edition."     (Diary,  iii.  163.) 

29  Letter-Book,  i.  18. 

i"  Ii>id.,  i.  123.     In  the  year  1691. 

3'  Diary,  i.  284.  January,  1698-9.  He  confessed  in  the  Diary  that  the  task 
gave  him  a  terrible  headache! 


Education.  107 

In  the  "Magnalia"  he  quoted  one  proverb  in  Spanish.^-'  He 
also  wrote  at  least  one  tract  in  French.^'  In  a  day  in  which 
the  education  of  woman  was  neglected,  he  taught  his  daughter 
Katherine  both  Latin  and  Hebrew. ^^  Evidently  the  schol- 
arly spirit  was  not  lacking  in  this  period  of  the  colonial 
life. 

Nor  was  the  period  without  scientific  spirit.  Nathaniel 
Mather's  letter,  given  on  page  103,  refers  to  the  growing 
influence  of  the  Cartesian  philosophy  in  the  Colonies. 
Thomas  Brattle  also  refers  to  this  in  a  letter  which  he  wrote 
at  the  time  of  the  witchcraft  troubles. 

The  Salem  justices  .  .  .  are  so  well  instructed  in  the  Carte- 
sian philosophy,  and  in  the  doctrine  oi  effluvia,  that  they  undertake 
to  give  a  demonstration  how  this  touch  does  cure  the  afHicted 
persons.^5 

It  had  become  established  at  Cambridge  not  long  before 
this.^*  The  Reverend  Deodat  Lawson,  whose  lecture  at 
Salem  Village,  March  24,  1692,  was  largely  responsible  for 
the  beginning  of  the  witchcraft  persecutions,  had  been  edu- 
cated in  England,  where  he  had  spent  six  years  at  the  English 
universities,  whence  he  had  brought  the  current  beliefs  of 
English  scholars."  The  Copernican  theory  was  accepted 
with  some  hesitation,  but  slowly  gained  way.  It  was  stated 
and  explained  as  early  as  1659  in  Zechariah  Brigden's  "Alma- 
nack" for  that  year.  Alexander  Nowell  in  his  "Almanack" 
for  1665  defended  it.  In  1665  Samuel  Danforth  published 
"An  Astronomical  Description  of  the  late  Comet,  or  Blaz- 

J'  Magnalia,  ii.  581. 

"  Diary,  ii.  651.  It  was  entitled  Grande  Voix  du  del  a  la  France  sous  La  Verge 
de  Dieu. 

"  Wendell,  Cotton  Mather,  p.  257. 

"  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Collections,  ist  Series,  v.  63. 

3^  MuUinger  in  his  History  of  Cambridge,  ca.  p.  158,  speaks  of  it  as  attracting 
great  attention  and  interest  around  1660. 

"  Littlefield,  Early  Boston  Booksellers,  p.  164.  It  must  be  remembered  that  the 
colonists  in  their  beliefs  in  witchcraft  were  not  behind  the  times,  but  rather  accept- 
ing the  latest  ideas  as  expressed  by  Joseph  Glanvil  and  Henry  More  of  Cambridge. 
See  p.  142  and  p.  160,  below. 


io8      Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

ing  Star,"  in  which  he  maintained  that  the  orbit  of  the  comet 
was  elliptical,  and  that  its  center  was  not  the  earth. 3»  In 
1675  .Tohfi  Foster's  "Almanack"  advanced  strong  arguments 
for  the  theory.  In  Nathaniel  Mather's  "Almanack"  for 
1686,  already  referred  to,  Robert  Hook's  discovery  of  a  sens- 
ible parallax  of  the  earth's  orbit  among  the  fixed  stars  was 
cited  as  proof  of  the  truth  of  the  new  system. ^^ 

The  influence  of  Harvard  in  this  period,  then,  may  have 
been  more  provincial;  but  there  seems  to  be  no  proof  that 
this  change  was  attended  by  any  appreciable  decline  in 
scholarship.  Harvard  was  still  training  men  satisfactorily 
for  the  ministry;  its  graduates  were  achieving  distinction  in 
political  life,  Samuel  Sewall,  Paul  Dudley,  Benjamin  Lynde, 
and  Gurdon  Saltonstall,  for  example;  and  two  other  gradu- 
ates of  this  period,  Cotton  Mather  and  Thomas  Brattle, 
received  recognition  for  their  scientific  writings  by  the  pub- 
lication of  their  articles  in  the  Transactions  of  the  Royal 
Society  as  well  as  by  election  to  that  Society. 4° 

Of  common  school  education  during  this  period  there  is 
no  detailed  information.  School  books  were  imported  in 
large  numbers,'"'  and  some  were  printed  in  the  colony. 
Marmaduke  Johnson  testified  in  1668  that  he  had  printed  a 
primer;4^   and  before  or  by  1690  Benjamin  Harris  had  pub- 

3*  Eggleston,  Transit  of  Civilization,  p.  35.     This  was  reprinted  in  England. 

3'  Sewall,  for  all  of  his  classical  learning,  was  somewhat  skeptical  of  the  new 
science.  As  late  as  1714  he  wrote  in  his  Diary  (iii.  31),  "Dr.  C.  Mather  preaches 
excellently  from  Ps.  37.  Trust  in  the  Lord  &c.  only  spake  of  the  Sun  being  in  the 
centre  of  our  System.  I  think  it  inconvenient  to  assert  such  Problems."  Sewall's 
earlier  credulity  in  accepting  the  spectral  evidence  in  the  witchcraft  cases  reacted 
upon  him  to  make  him  cautious  of  things  not  too  evident. 

■*"  Thomas  Brattle  was  recognised  for  his  ability  as  a  mathematician  and  astron- 
omer, Mather  for  his  writings  reporting  natural  (and  sometimes,  in  the  eyes  of  the 
modern  reader,  unnatural  and  absurd)  phenomena.  The  seeming  absurdity  of 
some  of  these  articles  must  not  blind  us  to  the  fact  that  they  did  not  seem  absurd 
at  the  time  and  were  not  at  all  out  of  place  in  the  most  learned  periodical  of  the 
time.  "The  Relation,"  commented  the  astronomer  Halley,  as  editor,  writing  of 
one  of  the  most  absurd,  "seems  to  be  well  attested."  (Publications  of  the  Colonial 
Society  of  Massachusetts,  xiv.  82.) 

^'  See  book  lists  in  the  following  chapter. 

^  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Proceedings,  2d  Series,  xi.  247. 


Education.  1 09 

lished  the  famous  "New  England  Primer."«  That  primers 
such  as  these  and  catechisms  like  Cotton's  "Spiritual  Milk 
for  Boston  Babes"-'^  sufficed  for  a  primary  education  equiva- 
lent to  that  obtainable  in  old  England  is  shown  by  the  state- 
ment of  John  Locke  in  his  "Thoughts  Concerning  Educa- 
tion," written  in  1690,  that  the  method  of  teaching  children 
at  that  time  in  England  "was  the  ordinary  road  of  Horn- 
book, Primer,  Psalter,  Testament,  and  Bible. "''^  Mr.  Little- 
field's  statement  seems  to  sum  up  the  situation  accurately: 
"The  writer  is  very  strongly  of  the  opinion  that  the  facilities 
for  instruction  in  the  colonial  and  provincial  periods  were 
greater  than  is  generally  supposed. "^^ 

«  Litdefield,  Early  New  England  Schools,  p.  148;  Ford,  Boston  Book  Market, 
p.  29. 

^  See  p.  23,  above. 

^5  Littlefield,  Early  New  England  Schools,  p.  92. 

^  Ibid.,  p.  328.  That  Massachusetts  was  interested  in  the  enforcement  of  her 
public  school  law  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  when  she  assumed  authority  over  the 
province  of  Maine  she  applied  to  that  territory  the  school  law,  and  in  1675 
the  towns  of  Kittery,  Cape  Porpus,  Scarboro,  and  Falmouth  were  all  presented 
because  they  did  not  as  towns  take  care  to  have  their  youth  taught  their  catechism 
and  educated  according  to  the  law.  Maine  Historical  Society,  Proceedings,  2d 
Series,  iv.  192. 


Chapter  VII:   Books  and  Libraries. 


THE  flow  of  books  to  the  New  England  colonies  in- 
creased rather  than  diminished  during  the  second 
period.  Gifts  and  shipments  to  individuals  con- 
tinued to  come  from  England;  booksellers  became  numer- 
ous; and  both  the  Public  Library  and  the  Harvard  Library- 
grew  in  size. 

As  in  the  earlier  period,  John  Winthrop,  Jr.,  was  one  of 
the  chief  recipients  of  books.  In  1670  Henry  Oldenburg, 
returning  to  Winthrop  the  thanks  of  the  Royal  Society  for 
curiosities  which  he  had  sent,  wrote,' 

And  y*  this  returne  may  not  be  altogether  verbal,  you  are  to 
receiue  w'*"  it  some  few  books  lately  printed  here  by  several  Fellows 
of  y^  Society,  viz.: 

1.  Mr.   Boyles  Continuation   of   y*"  Experimts  concerning  the 
Spring  and  weight  of  the  Aire. 

2.  Dr.  Holders  Philosophy  of  Speech. 

3.  Dr.  Thurston  de  Respirationis  usu  primario. 

4.  The  Transactions  of  the  last  year. 

In  1 67 1  he  wrote, 

I  herewith  send  you  a  few  philosophical  Books,  lately  printed 
here;    viz.: — 

1.  M"^-  Boyl's  New  Tracts  about  y^  wonderful  rarefaction  and 
Condensation  of  the  Air,  etc. 

2.  Mons'  Charas's  New  Experiments  vpon  Vipers. 

3.  The  Transactions  of  1670. 

To  these  I  adde  a  small  discourse  ....  against  y^  great 
Sorbonist,  Mons"^  Arnaud,  touching  y^  Perpetuity  of  y*"  Romish 
Faith  about  the  Eucharist.^ 

•  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Proceedings,  ist  Series,  xvi.  244. 
'Ibid.,  xvi.  251. 


Books  and  Libraries.  i  i  i 

A  year  later  he  wrote, 

I  cannot  but  thank  you  for  the  particulars  contained  in  y'  letter; 
for  w^''  I  have  nothing  to  return    ....    but  the  Transactions  of 

y*"  last  year The  Discourse  of  Mr.  Boyle  concerning  the 

Origine  and  Vertue  of  Gems  is  not  yet  printed  off:  when  it  is,  you 
shall  not  faile,  God  permitting,  of  hauing  a  Copy  of  it  sent  you  by 
y*  first  ship  y*  shall  goe  for  y'  parts  after  its  publication.^ 

Similarly  Samuel  Petto  of  Suffolk,  England,  wrote  to 
Increase  Mather  in  1677, 

I  also  intend  to  send  with  it  [his  letter],  D'  Owen  of  the  reason 
of  faith.'' 

and  again  in  1678, 

I  have  herewith  sent  you  three  books  Christianismus  Christi- 
anandus,  and  M'  Ny's  paper,  of  a  question  which  is  much  de- 
bated here,  .  .  .  also  M'  Troughton  of  Divine  Providence, 
.  .  .  .  If  I  knew  what  other  such  bookes  would  be  acceptable 
to  you,  I  would  send  them.s 

Four  years  later  he  wrote, 

I  did  also  direct  a  few  lines  to  you,  with  Ml"   Stockton's  book 

entituled  Consolation  in  Life  &  Death I  intend  to  send 

you  another  of  M'  Stockton,  entituled  The  best  Interest  when  it 
is  finished.* 

Others  were  sending  books,  too.  T.  JoUie  of  England 
wrote  in  1679, 

I  have  sent  you  herewith  2  treatises,  which  severall  yeares  agoe 
I  drew  up  when  I  was  a  prisoner.' 

Abraham   Kick  of  Amsterdam  wrote  in   1683  ^o  Increase 

Mather, 

I  hope  the  bookes  sent  by  Mr.  John  Pecke  came  safe  to  your 

hand  .  .  .  .* 

3  Ibid.,  xvi.  248. 

^  Mather  Papers,  p.  34I. 

5  Ibid.,  p.  343. 

« Ibid.y  p.  348. 

'  Ibid.,  p.  325. 

« Ibid.,  p.  598. 


1 1  2      Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

Samuel  Baker  of  England  wrote,  September  2,  1684, 
I  have  given  Mr.  Epps  order  to  send  you, 

1.  An  Acc°  of  the  present  state  of  the  Prot.  Religion,  supposed 
by  Dr.  O  [wen]  ,  thovigh  I  guess  you  have  it,  for  which  rea- 
son I  do  not  send  you  his  Meditations  of  Glory. 

2.  A  defence  of  his  12  arguments  in  answer  to  Baxter. 

3.  The  Dr's  Escot  reprinted,  with  a  Catalogue  at  the  end,  of 
all  the  Dr's  books. 

4.  A  little  book  against  Health-drinking. 

5.  The  life  of  one  Mr,  Henry  Dorney  .  .  .  .' 

He  wrote  again  later, 

I  .  .  .  return  my  acknowledgm*  for  the  books  I  haue  rec"^.  .  .  . 
I  know  not  what  return  to  make  in  this  kind  more  acceptable  than 
of  Dr.  Burnett's  L''%"  herewith  sent." 

Jonathan  Tuckney  of  Hackney,  England,  sent  books  to 
Increase  Mather  from  time  to  time,  as  the  following  letters 
indicate. 

I  wrote  to  you  about  two  months  since  &  therewith  sent  you 
two  bookes  of  my  father's  labors,  one  English  sermons,  the  other 
Latin  Prelections  &  Determinations  (as  also  two  for  my  Cous. 
Whiting  and  two  for  my  Cous.  your  Br.  John  Cotton),  which  I 
hope  may  be  come  to  hand." 

....  your  kind  letter  of  May  8,  together  with  your  new  peece 
of  Illustrious  Providences  ....  whereas  you  desire  to  see  Dr. 
Spencer  of  Prodigies,  I  have  procured  it    you,  &   herewith  send 

it '' 

I  have  thought  (since  my  writing  that  letter  of  Au- 
gust 29,  (wherein  I  inclose  this)  myself,  to  read  over  Spencer 
of  Prodigies  before  I  part  with  it  from  me x'\nd  I  de- 
sire you  to  accept  from  me  in  Exchange  (which  (you  know 
the  old  saying   is)    that   it   is   no  robbery)   another  Latin   piece 

9  Il>id.,  p.  513. 

""  Rev.  Gilbert  Burnet's  Travels  through  Switzerland,  Italy,  and  some  parts  of 
Germany. 

"  Mather  Papers,  p.  513. 

"  Ii>id.,  p.  352.     September  9,  1679. 

"  Itid.,  p.  354.     August  29,  1684. 


Books  and  Libraries.  i  i  3 

of  the  same  author's  concerning  Urim  &  Tbummim:  what  they 
were.'* 

The  following  letter  to  Increase  Mather  from  John  Leus- 
den,  Professor  of  Hebrew  and  Jewish  Antiquities  at  Utrecht, 
January  1688-9,  ^^  ^"  example  of  the  correspondence  with 
learned  men  abroad  to  which  Mather  referred  in  the  passage 
quoted  on  page  104. 

Most  Reverend,  Much  to  bee  Respected  SI, — I  sought  you  in 
America,'^  and  thither  on  the  30'*^  of  March  I  sent  some  books, 
viz^  a  New  Lexicon,  a  Compendium  of  the  Greek  New  Testament, 
two  Psalters  in  Hebrew  and  English,  and  one  in  Hebrew  &  Latine. 
The  Psalmes  in  Hebrew  &  English,  I  dedicated  to  M:  Eliot, 
&  those  four  and  twenty  Preachers,  lately  heathens,  now  chris- 
tians.'^ The  Psalmes  in  Hebrew  &  Latine  I  have  inscribed  to 
your  Rev^  name.  ...  I  lately  received  moreover  two  Amer- 
ican'' Bibles,  two  American  Grammars,  &  other  American  books, 
as  also  the  Indian's  A. B.C.  and  some  others,  .  .  .  You  now 
desyre  fifty  Hebrew  Psalters  for  the  use  of  the  students  in  Harvard 
CoUedge;  which  I  would  now  have  sent,  but  because  you  doe  not 
express  what  kind  of  Psalters  it  is  which  you  desyre,  whether 
Hebrew  &  Latine,  or  Hebrew  &  English  ....'* 

Increase  Mather  sent  home  books  from  London  during 
his  residence  there.  His  nephew,  Warham  Mather,  wrote  to 
him  in  1688, 

I  delivered  the  Books  I  received  from  yourself  according  to 
order.    ...    I  am  yet  made  a  greater  debter,  by  those  for  me.'' 

Cotton  Mather  recorded  in  his  diary,  January  7,  1698, 
"Arrives  to  mee,  a  Book  in  Folio,  this  year  published  in 
London  ....  2i  QoW^zixon  q>{  Remarkable  Providences  ^'"^^ 
and  again,  "  .    .    .    .   some  such  Thing  as  to  read  a  little 

'■»  Ibid.,  p.  355.     September  3,  1684. 

'5  At  this  time  Increase  Mather  was  in  London. 

'*  Indian  converts. 

"  American  seems  to  be  used  here  as  equivalent  to  Indian. 

'8  Mather  Papers,  p.  678. 

^•^  Ibid.,  p.  671. 

"  Diary,  i.  246. 


1 14     Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

Book,  De  Satana  Colaphizante^  which  I  received  from  Hol- 
land^ the  day  after  I  was  taken  sick."'^ 

Such  items  give  some  indication  of  the  way  in  which  books 
constantly  came  to  America  through  private  gifts.  Even 
more  striking  is  the  increased  importation  of  books  through 
the  regular  channel  of  the  booksellers'  shops.  Before  this 
period  opened  there  was  at  least  one  well-established  book- 
seller in  Boston,  Hezekiah  Usher,  who  died  in  1676,  "leaving 
a  goodly  fortune  and  two  sons  to  quarrel  over  it  and  evoke 
the  aid  of  the  law."-^  His  son,  John  Usher,  carried  on  the 
business,  but  not  without  considerable  competition.  When 
John  Dunton,  a  London  bookseller,  arrived  in  Boston  in 
1686  for  the  double  purpose  of  collecting  bad  debts^^  from 
New  Englanders  who  had  bought  books  of  him  and  of  dis- 
posing of  surplus  stock,  he  found  several  booksellers  estab- 
lished here,  and  three  others  soon  followed  him.  He  speaks 
of  some  of  them  thus: 

This  Trader  [Mr.  Usher]  makes  the  best  Figure  in  Boston, 
he's  very  Rich,  adventures  much  to  Sea;  but  has  got  his  Estate 
by  BOOKSELLING;  he  proposed  to  me  the  buying  my  whole 
Venture,  but  wou'd  not  agree  to  my  Terms.  .  .  .  Mr.  Philips, 
my  old  Correspondent  .  .  .I'll  say  that  for  SAM  (after  dealing 
with  him  for  some  Hundred  Pounds)  he's  very  just,  and  (as  an 
Effect  of  that)  very  Thriving.  ...  I  rambled  next  to  visit 
Minheer  Brunning,^^  he's  a  Dutch  Bookseller  from  Holland.  .  .  . 
Brunning  is  vers'd  in  the  Knowledge  of  all  sorts  of  Books,  and 
may  well  be  stil'd  a  Compleat  Bookseller.  .  .  .  From  the 
DUTCH,  I  went  to  the  SCOTCH  Bookseller,  one  Duncan  Cam- 
bel.  .  .  .  The  next  I'll  mention  shall  be  Andrew  Thorncomb, 
Bookseller  from  London   .   .   .  ,^s 

.  .  .  tho' I  have  first  broke  the  Ice,  in  bringing  hither  a  Cargo  of 
Books;  yet  by  some  Letters  I  receiv'd  by  the  Rose  Frigot  \sic\ 
...    I  perceive  I  shall  not  be  the  last.     [He  proceeds  to  report 

"  Ibid.,  i.  365. 

"  Days  and  Ways  in  Old  Boston,  p.  95.     See  pp.  40  and  79,  above. 

'5  To  the  amount  of  £500.     Dunton,  Life  and  Errors,  p.  loi. 

^  Otherwise  known  as  Joseph  Browning. 

^  Dunton,  Life  and  Errors,  p.  127  ff. 


Books  and  Libraries.  i  i  5 

the  coming  of  Benjamin  Harris  and  the  How  brothers,  Job   and 
John.]^'^ 

The  following  list  will  give  an  idea  of  the  number  of  men 
who  engaged  in  the  book  business  in  Boston  up  to  the  year 
1700,  besides  the  Ushers  and  Dunton,  who  have  already 
been  mentioned." 

1672.  John  Tappin  published  at  least  one  book.  Books 
were  incidental  to  his  business  in  general  merchandise  as  is 
shown  by  the  inventory  of  his  estate  in  1678:  Books, 
£16.00,00,  other  stock,  £4777.07.07, 

1673.  Edmund  Ranger  established  himself  as  bookseller, 
bookbinder,  and  stationer.  He  did  little  bookselling,  his 
name  appearing  in  three  books,  but  was  called  bookseller 
in  a  legal  document. 

1675.  ]^^^  Foster  took  over  Marmaduke  Johnson's  press 
when  the  latter  died.  He  combined  bookselling  with  print- 
ing until  his  death  in  1681,  when  Samuel  Sewall  succeeded 
him. 

1677.  Henry  Phillips,  after  seven  years'  apprenticeship 
with  Usher,  opened  a  bookshop  in  the  Town  House.  Upon 
his  death  in 

1680,  Samuel  Phillips,  his  brother,  succeeded  to  the 
business.  Although  his  shop  was  burned  down  in  the  great 
fire  of  171 1  and  he  did  not  resume  business,  he  died  wealthy 
in  1720, 

.      Duncan    Campbell.      Date   of  arrival   unknown; 

probably  before  1679. 

1679.  William  Avery  married  the  widow  of  John  Tappin 
and  took  over  the  bookshop  which  she  and  her  son,  Joseph, 
had  carried  on  after  her  husband's  death.  When  Avery 
died  in  1687,  the  widow  continued  the  business.  She  died 
in  1707. 

^  Dunton,  Letters,  p.  144. 

'7  The  list  is  summarized  from  Littlefield,  Early  Boston  Booksellers. 


1 16     Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

1679.  John  Griffin's  name  first  appeared  as  publisher  of 
a  book.  He  died  in  1686.  Benjamin  Harris  may  have  taken 
over  his  shop  when  he  arrived  that  same  year. 

1 68 1.  Samuel  Sewall  succeeded  John  Foster.  He  gave 
up  the  press  and  shop  in  1684. 

168 1-2.  John  Ratcliff,  who  came  over  to  work  on  the 
Indian  Bible,  published  some  books. 

1682.  Joseph  Browning  arrived  from  Amsterdam.  He 
died  in  1691. 

1684.  Richard  Wilkins  arrived  from  Limerick,  where  he 
had  sold  books.  He  opened  a  shop  opposite  the  west  end 
of  the  Town  House.  Dunton  used  his  shop  as  headquarters 
and  upon  leaving  put  in  his  hands  his  collections  amounting 
to  £300.     Wilkins  retired  in  1704. 

1684-5.  James  Cowes  opened  a  shop.  He  returned  to 
England  three  years  later. 

1685.  Andrew  Thorncomb  arrived.  After  the  reference 
to  him  by  Dunton,  quoted  above,  there  are  no  records.  He 
may  have  returned  to  London. 

1686.  Job  How  arrived.  Further  detail  is  lacking  except 
his  name  in  one  book  as  publisher. 

1686.  Benjamin  Harris,  a  London  bookseller,  driven  out 
of  London  because  of  anti-Catholic  publications,  set  up  a 
shop  in  Boston.  He  visited  London  in  1687  and  again  in 
1688.  In  1695  he  closed  his  business  in  Boston  and  returned 
to  London. 

1690.  Nicholas  Buttolph  opened  a  bookshop.  His  shop 
was  burned  down  in  17 u,  but  he  continued  the  business. 

1694.  Michael  Perry  began  business  in  Samuel  Phillip's 
old  shop  when  the  latter  moved  to  a  new  location.  Upon 
Perry's  death  in  1700  his  widow  continued  the  business. 

1698-9.  Benjamin  Eliot  began  a  business  which  was  very 
successful.     He  died  in  1741. 

Two  others  who  carried  books  with  other  merchandise  were 


Books  and  Libraries.  1 1 7 

Elkanah  Pembroke,  who  opened  a  shop  in  1689  at  the  Head 
of  the  Dock,  and  Joseph  Wheeler,  who  had  a  shop  in  Dock 
Square,  and  published  one  book  in  1697. 

Samuel  Sewall,  even  after  he  disposed  of  the  printing  and 
book  shop,  continued  to  do  business  in  books.  During  his 
visit  to  England,  1688-1689,  he  recorded  at  different  times 
payments  for  books  which  total  over  £30;  and  an  invoice 
records  that,  among  other  freight: 

Samuel  Sewall  hath  aboard  the  America,  Wm.  Clark,  Com- 
mander: 

Punchin  Books 

Barrel  of  Books 

A  Map  of  England  and  London.''* 

His  "Letter-Book"  under  date  of  April  25,  1698,  contains  a 
memorandum  of  an  order  per  Capt.  Thos.  Carter  to  Amster- 
dam which  includes  a  "Ream  of  Marbled  paper,  Spanish 
Bible  of  Cypriano  Valero,  Deodats  Italian  Bible. "^^  In  his 
diary,  in  1700,  he  recorded: 

The  President^"  desires  me  to  send  for  the  above  mentioned 
Books  [which  are  here  written  below] : 

1.  A  Narrative  of  the  Portsmouth  Disputation  between 
Presbyterians  and  Baptists  at  Mr.  Williams's  Meeting- 
house. 

2.  B[isho]p  of  Norwich's  Sermon  of  Religious  Melancholy. 

3.  Amintor,  a  defence  of  Milton  with  Reasons  for  abolishing 
the  30'^  Jan^;   [Two  of  them.] 

4.  An  Account  of  the  first  Voyages  into  America  by  Barthol 
de  las  Casas  4^     [Two  of  them]. 

5.  Account  of  a  Jew  lately  converted  ...  at  the  Meeting 
near  Ave  Mary-Lane   [Four  of  them].^^ 

'*  Sewall,  Diary,  i.  288.  At  about  the  same  time  he  recorded  in  his  diary  (i. 
284),  "Mr.  Matthew  Wotton,  Bookseller,  sends  me  by  his  Servant  a  parcell  of 
Englands  Duty,  which  are  25,  the  Sale  of  which  in  N[ew].  E[ngland].  I  am  to 
warrant [They]  Are  sent  to  Mr.  Joseph  Braning  [Browning],  at  Boston." 

^'Sewall,  Letter-Book,  i.  199. 

5°  Presumably  the  president  of  Harvard. 

3'  Sewall,  Diary,  ii.  13;  Letter-Book,  i.  239. 


I  1 8     Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

At  the  same  time  he  copied  into  his  letter-book  the  following: 
The  books  I  would  have  bought  are 

Ars  Cogitandi.     2. 

Le  (irands  Philosophy,  Latin. 

Heerboordi  Meletomata.     3. 

Dr.  Charletons  Physiologia. 

Dr  Moors  Imortality  of  the  Soul. 

Metaphysicks,  Ethicks 

Glanvils  Sceptis  Scientifica 

Dr.  Wilkins's  nattural  Principles,  and  Duties.  His  World  in 
the  Moon. 

Stallius  his  Regulae  Phylosophicae 

Stierij  Questiones  Physicae  cum  Praeceptis  Philosophise. 

Burgerdicius,  Logick  with  Heerebords  Notes. 

The  great  Hist.  Geographical,  and  Poetical  Dictionary  being 
a  curious  Misscellany  of  Sacred  and  Prophane  History 
printed  at  London  for  Henry  Rhodes.  If  there  be  an 
Edition  since  1694,  Send  the  best  Two  of  them. 

Francis  Turretini  Institutio  Theologiae  Elencticae  .  .  . 

Turretini  Disputationes  de  satisfactione  Christi. 

Poles  Synopsis  criticorum  ...  if  [you]  light  on  them  a 
peniwoth. 

A  K[ing]  Edward  6^*^,  his  Common  Prayer  Book 

Queen  Eliz[abeth]  [her  Common  Prayer  Book] 

Queens  Bible,  If  .    .    .   reasonable.^^ 

He  added  to  this  order: 

If  the  Money  doe  more  than  hold  out,  send  in  School  Books; 
Esops  Eng[lish]  and  Lat[in], 
Corderius  Eng[lish]  and  Lat[in], 
Terrence  Eng[lish]  and  Lat[in], 
Ovid  de  Tristibus, 
Metamorphosis, 
Virgil, 

Tullies  de  Officijs, 
Grammars, 
constr[u]ing  Books." 

3"  Sewall,  Letter-Book,  i.  237.     June  10,  1700. 
M  Ibid.,  i.  238. 


Books  and  Libraries.  119 

Later  in  the  year  he  ordered:^'' 

Pole's  Synopsis  Criticorum  if  to  be  had  under  five  pounds: 

as  much  cheaper  as  you  can, 
A  Ream  of  good  Marble  Paper. 
A  gross  of  Horn-books. 
Two  Cambridge  Concordances. 
Octavo  Bibles. 

and  a  few  days  later :^^ 

Duz.  of  Dr.  Bates's  Harmony  of  the  divine  Attributes, 
6.  Flavels  mental  errors, 
1  Mordeus  Geographie  rectified, 
12.  Colsons  Seamans  Kalendar. 
6.  Wakely's  Compass  rectifier. 
6.  Norwoods  Epitome  of  Navigation. 

One  great  Histor.  Geograph.  and  Poetical  Dictionary  of  the 
newest  Edition  .  .  .  ?^ 

There  were,  evidently,  plenty  of  channels  through  which 
the  people  of  Boston  and  vicinity  could  obtain  the  latest 
books;  ahd  they  made  good  use  of  their  opportunities. 
With  all  the  competition  from  the  established  bookshops 
Dun  ton  seems  to  have  found  a  good  market;  he  wrote  with 
satisfaction, 

.  .  .  having  stock'd  the  Town  of  Boston  with  my  Books; 
(some  having  bought  more,  I'm  afraid,  than  they  intend  to  pay 
for)"  and  having  still  a  Considerable  Quantity  left.  Several  Gen- 
tlemen have  given  me  great  Encouragement  ...  to  send  a 
Venture  to  Salem  ....•'* 

and  there  also  he  had  success. 

It  is  a  mistake  to  think  of  these  booksellers  as  carrying 
only  theological  or  devotional  works.    No  doubt  such  books 

"  Ibid.,  i.  248. 
js  Ibid.,  i.  247,  248. 
^^  See  list  on  page  ii8,  above. 

^'  His  sale  of  books  on  credit  alone  amounted  to  £300.    See  p.  116,  above,  under 
Richard  Wilkins. 
J*  Dunton,  Letters,  p.  248. 


I  20      Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

were  an  important  part  of  their  stock  in  trade,  perhaps  even 
the  larger  part;  but  this  would  have  been  just  as  much  so 
in  England.  We  do  not  know,  unfortunately,  just  what 
books  Dunton  brought  with  him  from  England,  or  what  he 
took  back  with  him  unsold;  but  one  item  in  his  "Letters"  may 
throw  some  light  on  the  matter.  He  wrote  of  one  customer, 
The  chief  Books  she  bought  were  Plays^'  and  Romances;  which 
to  set  off  the  better,  she  wou'd  ask  for  Books  of  Gallantry  .'^'^ 

Plays  and  romances  are  hardly  in  keeping  with  the  com- 
mon notion  of  Puritan  life  in  1686,  and  it  might  seem  neces- 
sary to  reject  this  statement  as  one  of  the  many  untruths 
in  Dunton's  very  unreliable  "Letters"^'  were  it  not  for  the 
fact  that  recently  discovered  invoices  of  book  shipments  to 
New  England  show  that  such  books  were  on  sale  in  Boston 
even  before  Dunton  came.  In  1682  Robert  Boulter,  a  Lon- 
don bookseller,  sent  to  John  Usher  as  a  venture,  "without 
ordre,"  a  shipment  of  nearly  800  volumes  under  about  125 
titles.  As  Mr.  Usher  in  October,  1680,  was  owing  Mr. 
Boulter  £370,  he  evidently  had  traded  with  him  for  some 
time,  and  therefore  Boulter's  consignment  was  not  a  blind 
venture  but  a  shipment  of  books  to  a  market  with  which  he 
was  familiar. ^2  Por  that  reason  the  items  included  in  the  list 
are  of  value  as  an  indication  of  the  probable  taste  of  Boston 
readers.    Some  of  the  more  interesting  titles  follow.** 

3  faramond  \Pharamond^  Or  The  History  of  France.    A  Fam'd 

Romance   .    .    .    ] 
1  last  part  of  the  english  rogue 

1  parismus  [The  most  Famous   .    .    .   History  of  Parismus,  the 
most  renowned  Prince  of  Bohemia^^ 

39  A  dancing  master  had  set  up  in  Boston  in  1681,  and  a  fencing  master  in  1686. 
See  p.  155,  below. 

*"  Dunton,  Letters,  p.  116. 

^'  See  C.  N.  Greenough's  account  of  the  plagiarisms  in  the  Letters  and  his  evidence 
of  their  untrustworthiness  as  historical  material:  Publications  of  the  Colonial 
Society  of  Massachusetts,  xiv.  213  ff. 

■«*  Ford,  The  Boston  Book  Market,  p.  9  ff. 

« Ibid.,  p.  88  ff.  Fuller  lists  of  the  items  in  these  invoices  are  given  in  the 
Appendix. 


Books  and  Libraries.  i  2 1 

I   destruction  of  troy 

I   Valentyn  and  orson   [The  Famous  History  of  Valentine  and 

Orson,  the  two  sons  of  the  Emperour  of  Greece^ 
4  esops  in  english 
1  felthams  resolves 
16  Cap  of  gray  haires  [A  Cap  of  Gray  hairs  for  a  Green  head, 

or  The   Father's   Counsel   to   his   Son,   an   Apprentice   in 

London^ 
1  Clelias  [A  four  volume  translation  from  Scudery] 
9  argalus  and  parthenia  [The  pleasant  and  delightful  History 

of  Argalus  and  Parthenia^ 

1  pembrooks  arcadia  [Sir  Philip  Sidney's  Arcadia^ 

2  reynolds  on  Murther  [The  Triumphs  of  God's  Revenge  against 

the    .    .    .    Sin   of  Murther,   Expressed   in   Thirty   several 
Tragical  Histories.] 

1  perfect  politician  [or  A    .    .    .    Life   .    .    .   of  0.  Cromwell^ 

1  temples  miscellanea  [By  Sir  William  Temple] 

I   Bacons  works 

I   Cambdens  Elizabeth 

I   Miltons  history  [The  History  of  Britain^ 

6  Guy  of  Warwick 

6  Reynard  fox 

12  dr  Faustus  [The  History  of  .    .    .    Dr.  John  Faustus^ 
12  Joviall  Garland  [■    .    .   containing  a  Collection  of  all  the  new- 
est Songs  and  Sonnets  used  in  Court  and  Country] 
12  Crown  Garland 

6  Garland  of  delight 

6  fortunatus  [The  right  pleasant,  and  variable  Tragical,  History 
of  Fortunatus^ 

6  royall  arbours  [A  Royall  x^rbor  of  Loyall  Poesie,  consisting 
of  Poems  and  Songes,  digested  into  Triumph,  Elegie,  Satyr, 
Love,  and  Drollerie] 

8  Soggins  jests  [Scoggings  Jests] 

4  Mandevills  travells 

4    pack  cards 

The  four  other  invoices,  all  of  ordered  books,  show  no 
such  proportion  of  the  light  reading  of  that  day,  but  do 
show  that  some  real  literature  was  imported  into  Boston.    In 


I  2  2      Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

connection  with  these  items  it  must  be  remembered  that 
these  invoices  report  only  the  purchases  of  one  Boston  book- 
seller through  a  single  ship  captain  (excepting  those  listed 
above  sent  by  Boulter  without  order)  in  a  period  of  less  than 
two  years. 

Invoice  of  September  5,  /68j.^* 

I  Hacklutes  Uoyages 

I   Mori  Utopia 

I   Felthams  Resolues 

7  Accademy  Compliments   [    .    .    .    with  many  new  Additions 

of  Songs  and  Catches  a  la  mode] 
I   Shaftsburys  Life 
I   Poeticall  History  [a  mythology] 
7  Accademy  Compliments,  another  sorte. 
30  History  of  Dr.  Faustus 

Invoice  of  March  j,  i68j-^J^ 

1  Erie  of  Rochesters  Poems 

4  Miltons  Paradise  Lost 

6  Lestranges  Erasmus  in  English 

I   Baker's  Chronicle  [of  the  Kings  of  England] 

1  Pembrooks  Arcadia 

3  Accademy  of  Compliments 

6  Nuga  Uenales  [    .    .    .    being  new  Jests   .    .    .    ] 

3  Present  State  of  England 
18  Dr.  Faustus 

6  Wilds  Poems 

6  Argulus  and  Parthenia 

5  Oxford  Jests 

Invoice  of  May  29,  1684^^ 

4  State  of  England 

3  Markhams  way  to  get  wealth 

2  History  of  Parismus 

*<  Ibid..,  p.  108  ff.  In  this  and  in  the  next  list  it  is  reported  that  certain  volumes 
ordered  could  not  be  supplied.  Some  of  the  items  are  designated  for  individuals 
not  booksellers. 

*^  Ibid.,  p.  121  ff. 

4'  Ibid.,  p.  133  ff. 


Books  and  Libraries.  i  23 

20  Gentle  Craft  [.    .    .    with  Pictures,  and  Variety  of  Wit  and 
Mirth] 
2  Wonders  of  the  Femall  world  [    .    .    .   or  A  general  History 
of  Women] 

1  Her  and  His   [Haec  et  Hie,  or  The  Feminine  Gender  more 

worthy  than  the  Masculine.  | 
10  Second  Part  of  the  Pilgrims  Progress. 

2  Two  Journeys  to  Jerusalem 

1  London  Bully  [or  The  Prodigal  Son;    displaying  the  principal 

Cheats  of  our  Modern  Debauchees] 
1  Informers  Doome  [    .    .    .    with  the  Discovery  of  the  Knavery 

and  Cheats  of  most  Trades  in  London\ 

3  Uenus  in  the  Cloyster 

Invoice  of  April  /j,  1685^^ 

1  Glissons  Common  Law  Epitomized 
8  Jure  Maritimo 

2  Terms  of  the  Law 

3  Daltons  Justice  [The  Country  Justice] 
2  Keebles  Statutes 

2  Cooks  Reports  Engl.  [By  Sir  Edward  Coke] 

3  Blounts  Law  Dictionary 

I   Sheppards  Grand  Abridgement  [of  the  Common  and  Statute 
Law  of  England] 

1  Hobbarts  Reports  [law] 
3  Miltons  Logick 

6  History  of  Dr.  Faustus 

2  Rochesters  Life  [Burnet's  Life  of  the  Earl  of  Rochester] 
2  Pulton  of  the  Common  Pleas  Engls. 

5  Sheppards  Sure  Guide  [for  his  Majesties  Justices  of  Peace] 
10  Wonderful  Prodogies 

From  these  invoices  and  certain  references  to  bills  and 
indebtedness  Mr.  Ford  estimates  that  in  the  years  1679- 
1685,  inclusive,  John  Usher  imported  books  to  a  value  of 
£567.  Such  a  figure  is  a  minimum  rather  than  a  maximum; 
he  bought  that  much  and  he  may  have  bought  more  through 

^T  Ibid.,  p.  140  fF. 


I  24     Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

other  captains  and  of  other  London  booksellers,  record  of 
the  transactions  having  disappeared,  even  as  these  invoices 
vanished  for  centuries.  One  other  invoice  of  the  period  has 
survived,  together  with  a  letter  from  the  shipper  to  Increase 
Mather.  The  shipper  was  Richard  Chiswell  of  London, 
whom  Dunton  calls  "the  Metropolitan  Bookseller  of  Eng- 
land." He  seems  to  have  had  a  large  trade  in  New  England; 
the  last  four  invoices  above  were  of  consignments  from  him. 
The  letter  and  invoice  follow;  unfortunately  the  latter  is 
not  complete,  including  only  the  books  sent  to  Dr.  Mather, 
and  not  those  to  Usher  which  accompanied  them. 

S", — I  rec''*  yours  of  July  19*,  &  have  in  My  Vsher's  Cask  pf 
Anderson,  in  the  Ship  Blessing,  sent  you  all  the  books  you 
wrote  for,  &  have  returned  8  of  your  Principles,  which  I  cannot 
sell   .    .    . 

I  have  added  a  few  new  things  of  good  note  which  I  hope  you  will 
be  pleased  with,  the  first  of  them  is  an  answer  to  a  Pamphlet  I 
sent  you  in  the  last  pcell,  &  which  makes  no  small  stir  here  at 
present.  Hales  of  Eaton,  &  Stillingfleet  are  very  famous.  Walker 
of  Baptism  is  said  to  be  very  learned  &  exceedingly  well  done. 
The  two  books  of  Contemplations  were  writ  by  the  Lord  Cheif 
Justice  Hales,  a  person  who  for  all  kind  of  learning,  Philosophy, 
Physick,  Mathematicks,  &:c.,  as  well  as  Law,  (his  proper  profes- 
sion,) and  for  most  exemplary  piety  .  .  .  has  not  le[tt]  his 
fellow,  .  .  .  the  whole  nation  mournes  for  the  loss  of  him. 
That  Great  audit  or  Good  Steward's  account,  in  the  first  vollume, 
is  a  most  lively  &  exact  character  of  his  life.  ...  I  know  not 
any  two  books  have  come  forth  these  20  yeares,  that  have  sold 
so  great  a  number  in  so  short  a  time,  as  these  two  voUumes  of 
his,''^  ...  I  have  sent  a  few  books  to  Mr  Vsher  without  order, 
which  I  put  in  to  fill  up  the  Cask.  You  may  see  them  at  his  shop, 
&  I  hope  may  help  some  of  them  off  his  hands,  by  recomending 
them  to  your  publick  Library,  especially  the  new  ones,  which 
cannot  be  there  already,  pticularly  D^.  Caves  Lives  of  the  Fathers, 

*^  This  letter  has  been  given  so  fully  because  of  its  interesting  testimony  to  the 
fact  that  the  colonists  were  not  entirely  dependent  upon  their  own  tastes,  or  their 
knowledge  of  contemporary  books.  Their  London  correspondents  tried  to  keep 
them  abreast  of  current  works. 


Books  and  Libraries. 


125 


&  Dl"  Gary's  Chronologicall  account  of  ancient  time,  which  are 
both  exceeding  well  esteemed  by  the  most  learned  &  ingenious 
men  here."' 

A  Coppy. 

Postage  .  .  .  Letters  .  .  . 

D""  Tuckneys  Sermons,  4° 

Straight  gate  to  heaven,  11°  bound, 

Hotchkis  reformation  or  ruine,  8" 

Discovery  of  Pigmies,  8° 

Horologicall  Dialogues,  8° 

Homes  Cause  of  Infants  maintained,  4? 

Whiston  on  Baptism,  all  3  parts,  8° 

State  of  Northampton,  4° 

Tozer's  Directions  to  a  godly  life,  12°. 

Barbets  Chirurgery,  8° 

Leybournes  Dialling,  4° 

Hook's  Motion  of  the  Earth,  4° 

Stephenson's  mathemat.  compendium,  12° 

8  First  principles  of  New  England,  4°  returnds". 

ADDED. 

Pacquet  of  advices  to  the  men  of  Shaftsbury,  4° 

King  &  L^  Chancellor's  Speeches. 

D:"  Stillingfleet's  Letter  to  a  Deist,  8? 

M-"  Hales  (of  Eaton)  his  Tracts,  8? 

Hornecks  Law  of  Consideration,  8? 

Walker  of  Baptism,  12° 

Rules  of  Health,  12° 

Family  Physitian,  12° 

Judge  Hale's  Contemplations,  2  Vol.  8° 

24  Warrs  of  New  England,  4°  '"^ 

Catalogue  No,  7.  8.  9.  10,  fol. 

49  Mather  Papers,  p.  575.     The  letter  was  written  in  February,  1677. 

5"  This  was  a  book  by  Increase  Mather  which  proved  to  be  a  poor  seller,  and  so 
the  left  over  copies  are  returned. 

5'  Chiswell  had  reprinted  this  book  by  Increase  Mather,  and  is  sending  these 
copies  as  a  gift  to  the  author,  although  he  has  been  disappointed  at  not  selling 
more  than  500. 


£ 

s. 

d. 

0. 

I. 

0 

0. 

8. 

0 

0. 

0. 

8 

0. 

2. 

0 

0. 

I. 

0 

0. 

I. 

0 

0. 

I. 

0 

0. 

5- 

6 

0. 

0. 

3 

0. 

I. 

0 

0. 

6. 

0 

0. 

3- 

0 

0. 

I. 

0 

0. 

2. 

6 

0. 

8. 

0 

0. 

I. 

6 

0. 

0, 

6 

0. 

2. 

6 

0. 

2. 

6 

0. 

3- 

6 

0. 

3- 

6 

0. 

I. 

0 

0. 

I. 

0 

0. 

10. 

0 

I  26      Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

Besides  the  regular  booksellers,  there  were  hawkers  of 
books  whose  influence  cannot  be  estimated  for  lack  of  in- 
formation. Ballads,  broadsides,  popular  books  such  as 
"Pilgrim's  Progress"  and  Wigglesworth's  "Day  of  Doom," 
and  almanacs  doubtless  made  up  much  of  the  hawker's 
stock  in  trade.  Cotton  Mather's  busy  brain  saw  opportu- 
nity for  good  here,  for  he  recorded  in  his  diary  in  1683, 
"There  is  an  old  Hawker  who  will  fill  this  Countrey  with 
devout  and  useful  Books,  if  I  will  direct  him."^- 

There  were,  evidently,  sufficient  opportunities  for  the 
growth  of  private  libraries.  A  letter  from  Increase  Mather 
to  Joseph  Dudley,  November  10,  1684,  gives  additional  tes- 
timony of  this  fact.  Writing  of  a  letter  containing  defama- 
tory matter  to  which  his  name  had  been  forged  to  discredit 
him  (probably  by  Edward  Randolph) ,^^  he  says: 

He  pretends  as  if  I  sent  to  Amsterdam  for  the  New  Covenant 
of  Scotland,  Carill  upon  Job,  and  Mr.  Owen's  last  works.  Now  here- 
in he  has  so  grossly  played  the  fool,  soe  as  to  discover  the  letter  to 
be  a  meer  peece  of  forgery.  As  for  the  new  Covenant  of  Scotland, 
I  never  heard  of  such  a  thing,  .  .  .  Carill  have  been  in  my 
study  this  fiveteen  years,  &  if  I  had  him  not,  it  is  likely  that  I 
should  send  to  Amsterdam,  for  Mr.  Carill  &  Doct.  Owen's  works, 
which  are  here  sould  in  Boston. s-i 

The  best  of  the  private  libraries  of  New  England  were 
undoubtedly  those  owned  by  the  Mathers,  father  and  son. 
Of  the  latter's  Dunton  wrote  in  1686,  when  Cotton  Mather 
was  but  eight  years  out  of  college: 

...    he  shew'd  me  his  Study:   And  I  do  think  he  has  one  of 
the  best  (for  a  Private  Library)  that  I  ever  saw:   Nay,  I  may  go 
farther,  and  affirm.  That  as  the  Famous  Bodleian  Library  at  Ox- 
ford, is  the  Glory  of  that  University,  if  not  of  all  Europe,    .    .    . 
so  I  may  say.  That  Mr.  Mather's  Library  is  the  Glory  of  New- 

5*  Diary,  i.  65.    For  later  importance  of  hawkers  of  books  see  pp.  191-193,  below. 
53  This  is  a  part  of  the  long  quarrel  between  the  Mathers  and  Randolph. 
M  Mather  Papers,  p.  loi. 


Books  and  Libraries.  i  27 

England,  if  not  of  all  America.     I  am  sure  it  was  the  best  sight 
that  I  had  in  Boston. ss 

Of  this  library  Cotton  Mather  wrote  in  his  diary,  October 
16,  1700: 

[A  widow]  had  a  Parcel  of  Books,  which  once  belong'd  unto 
the  Library  of  our  famous  old  Mr.  Chancey;  and  if  I  would 
please  to  take  them,  she  should  count  herself  highly  gratified,  in 
their  being  so  well  bestowed.  I  singled  out,  about  forty  Books, 
and  some  of  them  large  Ones,  which  were  now  added  unto  my 
Library,  that  has  already  between  two  and  three  thousand  in  it.^* 

An  extensive  private  library  was  brought  to  New  England 
in  1686  by  Samuel  Lee,  pastor  of  the  church  at  Bristol  from 
that  year  to  1691.  Returning  to  England  in  1691  he  was 
taken  prisoner  by  the  French  and  died  in  France.  The 
books  which  he  left  in  Bristol  were  put  on  sale  in  Boston  in 
1693  at  the  shop  of  Duncan  Campbell.  The  catalogue  of  these 
books,  printed  by  Campbell,  contains,  besides  pages  of  the- 
ological titles,  the  following  titles:" 

Subject  Number 

Physics  124 

Philosophy  83 

Mathematics  and  Astronomy       48  (in  Latin) 

13  (in  English) 
History  112  (in  Latin) 

45  (in  English) 
School  authors  60 

Law  books  8 

Unclassified  327 

The  following  partial  list  will  give  an  idea  of  the  range  of 
this  library: 

Paracelsi  Opera 

Paracelsi  de  Vita  Longa 

55  Dunton,  Letters,  p.  75. 

5^  Diary,  i.  368. 

5'  Titles,  not  volumes. 


I  28      Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 


Reolani 

Anatomia 

Willis 

Anatomia  cerebri 

Helmontii 

Opera 

HelmontI  ii  ] 

dies  Aurora  rubra 

Roger  Bacon 

perspect.  per  Combas. 

Theatrum  Chemicum  vols.  1-4 
Opera 

Platonis 

Seneca 

Opera 

Luciani  Phylosoph: 

Opera 

Xenophon 

Philosoph. 

Aristot[ilis] 

[several] 

Bacon 

de  augment  [atione]  Scientiarum 

Cartesii 

Metaphisica 

Petri  Rami 

praelectiones 

Archemedis 

omnia  opera 

Tychobrachy 

opera  omnia 

Joan:  Stadii 

Ephimeridis 

Evevautii 

Ephimerid. 

Newtons 

Trigonometry 

Newtons 

Astronomy 

Dugdal. 

Monast.  angl. 

Duckdales 

Antiquities  of  Warwickshire 

Stout's 

Survey  of  London 

Hollinshead's 

Chronicles  of  Scotland 

England  &  Ireland  in  3  vols. 

Fox's 

Acts  and  Monuments 

Rawleigh's 

History  of  the  World 

Eabran's 

Cronicles 

Crackinthorp's 

Councils 

Everard's 

Collections 

Philpot's 

Survey  of  Kent 

Sayndy's 

History  of  China 

Wilson's 

History  of  Great  Britain 

Crossel's 

History  of  England 

The  Union  of  the  Houses  of  York  and  Lan- 
caster 

Jones's 

Antiquity  of  Great  Britain 

Burlons 

description  of  Leichester 

Delaval's 

Travels 

Books  and  Libraries. 


I  29 


Howel's 

Isaacson's 

Brughton's 

Evebins  [Evelin] 

Morison's 

Summer's 

Isaac's 

Langhorn's 

Allan's 

Pitit's 


Prin's  [Prynne] 

Bacon's 

Bacon 

Baconi 

Demosthen[es] 

Homeri 

Homeri 

Lucan 

Ashylii 

Terentii 

Hesiodi 

Pindari 

Persii 

Sophaclis 

Sophaclis 

Horatius 

Aristophanis 

Euripidis 

Salust 

Martialae 

Tascitus 

Macrobius 

Boetius 

Plutarchi 

Caesaris 


History  of  London 

Chronology 

Ecclesiastical  History  of  Great  Britain 

Discourse  of  Trees 

Travels 

Antiquity  of  Canterbury 

Rarities  of  Exeter 

Introduction  to  the  History  of  England 

History  of  King  Henry  VII 

ancient  Right  of  the  Commons  of  England 

The  History  of  Mary  Queen  of  Scotland 

The  History  of  the  Navy  of  Great  Britain 

The  Life  of  Merlin 

The  History  of  Scanderberg 

new  Discovery  of  the  Prelates  Tyranny 

Natural  History 

Hist[oria]  Naturalis 

Hist[ory  of]  Hen[ry]  7th 

Oration  [es]  &c. 

Iliad  (3  copies) 

Odysse[y]  (5  copies) 

cum  notis 

Tragediae 

Tragediae 

opera  cum  Scholiis 

Odes 

Satyr[3e] 

Antigone 

traged[iae]  cum  Scholiis 

(3  copies) 

(3  copies) 

Hecuba  Graeca 


Epigr 


de  Gemmis 
vitae 
Comment.  (2) 


I  30     Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

Ceneca  [sic]  Tragicus 

Erasmi  Colloqui 

Beda  venerab.  de  natura  rerum  (2) 

Marmora  Arundeliana 

As  another  example  of  the  variety  to  be  found  in  colonial 
libraries,  the  following  list  of  titles  from  a  library  of  only 
thirty  volumes  in  all  is  of  interest.^* 

London  Despencettory 

Dixonarey 

Norwood's  Trigonometry 

Gervase  Markham's  Gentleman  Jocky 

Lambarde's  Perambulation  of  Kent 

Morton's  New  England's  Memorial 

Sir  Matthew  Hale's  Contemplations 

The  Effect  of  VVarr 

1 1  books  on  law 

Some  idea  of  Increase  Mather's  library  may  be  gained 
from  the  statements  as  to  his  reading  which  are  found  in 
his  fragmentary  diary  for  the  years  1675  ^"^  1676.*^  The 
authors  read,  with  the  titles  of  the  books  when  given,  are 
listed  here.  It  should  be  noted  that  this  list  contains  almost 
no  duplicates  of  the  titles  found  in  the  lists  given  on  pages 
52  and  ^2  ^^^  ^^  pages  237-242.^" 

Albaspinus  De  Ritibus  Ecclesiae 

Alsted  [not  stated] 

[Alwaerden?]  History  of  Severitus  [Servetus?] 

Autores  De  Sinceritate 

Bates  Vocatio 

Bell  [not  stated] 

Boreman  "de  swearing" 

Bownd  "  of  Sabbath  " 

5'  Proceedings  of  the  American  Antiquarian  Society,  xviii.  136. 

59  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Proceedings,  2d  Series,  xiii.  339  fF. 

*°  The  lack  of  duplication  in  these  three  different  lists  is  typical  in  that  the 
writer  has  found  it  almost  invariably  true  that  every  new  source  of  information  in 
regard  to  colonial  libraries  has  added  details  entirely  new.  Our  knowledge  of 
most  of  the  colonial  libraries  is  at  best  fragmentary. 


Books  and  Libraries. 


^31 


Bridges 

Buxtorf 

Camel 

Carter 

Caryl 

Chamberlain 

Cicero 

Clark 

Clark 

Elias  Levita 

Fenner 

Firmin 

Franklin 

Franzius 

Aul.  Gallius 

Goclenii 

Goodwin 

Hall 

Herbert 

Hubbard 

Jerome,  St. 

Johnson 

Leigh 

May 

Morton 

Moxon 

Owen 

Paget 

Pareus 

Powell 

Purchase  [sic^ 

Revius 

Reynolds 

Rivet 

Rutherford 

Schindler 

Sibs 

Smith,  C. 

Stoughton 


On  Luke  17:  37 
Lex.  Thalmud 

not  stated 
On  Hebrews  i :  i 
[not  stated] 
State  of  E[urope] 
Orations 

Vanity  of  Earthly  Things 
Examples 
[not  stated] 
Alarm 

Real  Christian 
Of  Antichrist 
History  of  Brutes 
[not  stated] 
Logicae 
Sermons 

On  Timothy  3:  2 
Country  Parson 
History  of  Pequot  War 
Of  Pliny 
[not  stated] 
Of  Colledges 

History  of  War  in  E[ngland] 
History  of  New  England 
Of  Globes 
[various] 
Chronography 
Orationes 
[not  stated] 
"of  America" 
de  Capillitio 
[not  stated] 
[not  stated] 

"de  drawing  to  Ct  [Christ]  " 
de  Moseroth 
On  Hosea  14 
Experiences 
Of  Covetousness 


I  32      Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 


Twisse 

[various] 

Voetius 

1  not  stated] 

Ward,  R. 

Politick  Strategy 

Willisius 

de  Memoria 

Other  books  are  mentioned  without  sufficient  detail  for 
identification.     A  few  of  these  items  follow. 

Discourse  of  Witchcraft 
Help  to  discourse 
Cabinet  of  Mirth 
Autores  de  Conviction 
Tollis"  of  ye  Jews 
de  doctoribus  Misnicis 
Coma  Berenices 
Capell  Hall 
Life  of  Richard  3 
History  of  Formosa. 

The  Public  Libraries  as  well  as  private  ones  continued  to 
grow.  There  are  unfortunately  few  references  to  the  Boston 
Public  Library  in  the  town-house  during  this  period.  Sir 
Thomas  Temple,  in  a  will  drawn  up  and  filed  October  14, 
1 67 1,  before  he  sailed  for  England,  inserted  the  following 
clause: 

....  as  also  all  my  Bookes  which  I  estimate  at  £150  &c  in 
case  of  sd  Nelsons  death  before  he  receive  them  then  I  doe 
give  &  bequeath  ....  the  Bookes  above  sd.  at  the  select  men 
of  Bostons  dispose  viz:  such  as  are  fit  for  the  Towne  Lybrary 
unto  that;  and  the  rest  to  be  sold  &  given  to  the  poor  of  this 
Towne. 

Before  he  died  he  drew  up  another  will  in  London,  in 
which  there  was  no  mention  of  the  Library.®^  In  a  will 
dated  March  12,  1673-4,  John  Oxenbridge  made  the  follow- 
ing bequest: 

To  the  Public  Library  in  Boston  or  elsewhere,  as  my  executors 

*'  Suffolk  Probate  Files  No.  697,  quoted  in  Publications  of  the  Colonial  Society 
of  Massachusetts,  xii.  122. 


Books  and  Libraries. 


133 


and  overseers  shall  judge  best,  Augustine's  Works  in  six  volumes, 
the  Century's  in  three  volumes;   the  catalogue  of  Oxford  Library. ^^ 

The  Boston  Athenaeum  owns  a  copy  of  Samuel  Mather's 
"Testimony  against  Idolatry  and  Superstition,"  inscribed 
"ffor  the  Publike  Library  at  Boston,  1674."^^  On  August  2, 
1683,  the  Selectmen  gave  an  order  to  David  Edwards 

to  receaue  of  Elder  John  Wiswall  &  Docf  Elisha  Cooke  £34. 4s. 
in  mony  for  severall  things  he  brought  from  England  for  y""  vse 
of  the  Library,  by  order  of  Captain  Brattle.  ...*■* 

In  1686  the  Town  Records  mentioned  "the  library  room 
at  the  east  end  of  the  town  house;  "^^  and  the  same  year 
Andros  met  the  ministers  "in  the  Library"  at  the  town- 
house. *5     At  a  town  meeting  March  11,  1694-5,  it  was  voted 

....    that  all  Bookes  or  Other  things  belonging  to  the  Li- 
brary  ....    be  demanded  and  Taken   care  of  by  the  Select- 


66 


At  a  meeting  of  the  Selectmen  January  i,  1701-2,  it  was 

Ordered  that  whereas  Samuell  Clough  did  formerly  borrow  the 
Towns  Globes  that  he  do  now  return  them  unto  the  Town  Treas- 
urer.^^ 

In  Chiswell's  letter  already  given  on  pages  124  and  125 
there  is  also  a  reference  to  this  Library  which  would  seem 
to  indicate  that  Chiswell  was  accustomed  to  having  many 
books  of  his  sending  bought  by  or  for  it: 

I  hope  may  help  some  of  them  off  his  hands  by  recommending 

**  Winsor,  Memorial  History  of  Boston,  i.  501. 

'3  Ibid.,  iv.  279. 

"^  Boston  Record  Commissioners'  Reports,  vii.  162,  quoted  in  Publications  of 
the  Colonial  Society  of  Massachusetts,  xii.  124. 

's  Sewall,  Diary,  i.  162. 

**  Boston  Record  Commissioners'  Reports,  vii.  220,  quoted  in  the  Publications 
of  the  Colonial  Society  of  Massachusetts,  xii.  125. 

''  Boston  Record  Commissioners'  Reports,  xi.  13,  quoted  in  the  Publications 
of  the  Colonial  Society  of  Massachusetts,  xii.  126. 


I  34      Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

them  to  your  publick  Library,  especially  the  new  ones,  which  can- 
not be  there  already  J'^ 

The  last  phrase  sounds  as  though  any  books  but  the  new- 
est might  be  expected  to  be  found  there. 

The  Harvard  Library  during  this  period  received  many 
important  accessions.  Under  date  of  May  i,  1675,  John 
Knowles  wrote  to  John  Leverett, 

Alderman  Ashurst  hath  about  50  books  of  history  for  the  Col- 
lege from  Mr.  Baxter.^^ 

The  same  year  John  Lightfoot  bequeathed  his  library,  con- 
taining "the  Targums,  Talmuds,  Rabbins,  Polyglot,  and 
other  valuable  tracts  relative  to  Oriental  literature. "^"^  In 
1677  the  Reverend  Theophilus  Gale  left  to  it  all  his  books, 
consisting  chiefly  of  patristic  and  controversial  theology.^^ 
In  1682  Sir  John  Maynard,  sergeant-at-law,  gave  to  the  Li- 
brary eight  chests  of  books,  valued  at  £400.^2  Xhe  last  two 
gifts  brought  in  so  many  duplicates  that  the  Fellows  of  the 
College  ordered  "that  the  double  Books  in  the  Colledge  Li- 
brary be  prized  &  sold  &  j"  money  improved  for  the 
buying  other  books  y'  are  wanting."" 

There  exists  in  the  collections  of  the  Massachusetts  His- 
torical Society  a  manuscript  "Catalogue  of  such  books  as 
are  double  in  ye  Colledge  Library,"  and  with  it  what  pur- 
ports to  be  a  record  of  volumes  sold,  with  the  amounts  paid. 
The  second  list,  containing  396  items,  is  more  extensive  than 

*'  The  italics  are  mine. 

*9  North  American  Review,  cvii.  572.  Richard  Baxter,  fearing  that  his  library- 
would  be  seized  to  pay  a  fine,  planned  to  give  most  of  it  to  Harvard,  but  learned 
that  Sir  Kenelme  Digby  had  given  them  "the  Fathers,  Councils,  and  Schoolmen, 
and  that  it  was  history  and  commentators  which  they  wanted.  Whereupon  I 
sent  them  some  of  my  commentators,  and  some  historians,  among  which  were 
Freherus',  Reuberus',  and  Pistorius'  collections." 

7°  Ibid.,  cvii.  572. 

7'  Ibid.,  cvii.  573.  Neal,  History  of  New  England,  i.  202,  called  Gale's  "a  large 
and  Valuable  Collection  of  Books." 

7'  North  American  Review,  cvii.  573. 

73  Harvard  Library,  Bibliographical  Contributions,  Hi.  10. 


Books  and  Libraries.  i  35 

the  "catalogue,"  which  lists  99  in  folio,  36  in  quarto,  and 
37  in  octavo  and  smaller.  There  are  no  dates  on  either. 
The  record  of  sales  is  partly  in  Increase  Mather's  hand. 
It  may  be  that  the  second  list  covers  a  longer  period  of  time, 
including  later  additions  of  duplicates.  At  any  rate,  about 
400  titles  of  duplicates  were  sold,  adding  to  the  Library's 
funds  about  £98.10.00.     Among  the  duplicates  sold  were: 

Bacon's  Essays  (2  copies  sold,  one  at  2s,  one  at  is.) 

Bacon's  Advancement  of  Learning 

Feltham's  Resolves 

Hackluit's  Voyages 

Herodotus 

Aristophanes 

Gassendi 

Keckermann 

Plutarch  in  English^'' 

John  Dunton's  visit  also  added  books  to  the  Harvard 
Library,  and  gives  us  a  glimpse  of  it  through  London  eyes. 
He  wrote  home, 

I  was  invited  hither   [to  Harvard]   by  Mr.  Cotton^^    _    _    _ 
by  his  means  I  sold  many  of  my  Books  to  the  Colledge.'''* 

Elsewhere  he  wrote. 

The  Library  of  this  CoUedge  is  very  considerable,  being  well 
furnish'd  both  with  Books,  and  Mathematical  Instruments?'^ 

With  the  increased  importation  of  books  and  with  the 
growth  of  libraries  there  seems  to  have  been  an  increase 
rather   than   a  decrease   in   the   borrowing   and  lending  of 

'4  Cotton  Mather  took  advantage  of  this  sale  of  duplicates  to  the  extent  of  96 
titles,  for  which  he  paid  £43.19.00  in  installments.  (Ms.  list  in  possession  of  the 
American  Antiquarian  Society.  See  Publications  of  the  Colonial  Society  of  Massa- 
chusetts, xviii.  407  ff.,  for  a  photographic  reproduction  of  this  list  and  a  catalogue 
of  the  books  included.) 

'5  John  Cotton  was  Library-keeper  at  Harvard  1 681-1690. 

^  Dunton,  Letters,  p.  156. 

77  Dunton,  Life  and  Errors,  p.  157.  Neal,  History  of  New  England,  i.  202, 
estimated  it  at  between  three  and  four  thousand  volumes  before  1700. 


136     Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

books.  Of  this  the  following  extracts  from  letters  written 
during  this  time  are  indicative.  More  letters  illustrating 
this  tendency  are  given  in  the  Appendix. 

G.  F.'^  hath  sent  the  a  booke  of  his  by  Jere:  Bull,  &  two  more 
now,  which  thou  mayest  communecatte  to  thy  Counsell  &  officers. 

Allso  I  remember  before  thy  last  being  in  England,  I  sent  the 
a  booke,  written  by  Francis  Howgall  againest  persecution,  .... 
which  booke  thou  loueingly  accepted.  ..." 

My  last  to  thee  was  of  the  29  D.  4.  72,*°  which  Richard  &:  Ester 
Smyth  informed  me  they  sent  it  to  thee,  so  that  they  made  noe 
doubt  of  thee  safe  convaience  of  it,  with  George  Ffox  bookes  to 
thee,  to  which  I  shall  refere  thee.  I  haue  other  writings  of  G.  F. 
not  yet  copied,  which,  if  thou  desireth,  when  I  heare  from  thee, 
I  may  convaie  them  vnto  thee;  .  .  .*^ 

May  these  few  hasty  lines  salute  you  acceptably  though  only  to 
certify  the  receiving  of  yours  of  the  18  of  the  former,  &  to  thank 
you  for  that  kindnesse,  &  that  little  volume  of  poetry  therewith.*^ 

Thinking  it  might  be  acceptable,  I  have  sent  you  a  verse-book; 
and  desire  you  would  send  the  other  to  Mr.  Walley.*^ 

It  is  evident  from  the  details  given  in  this  chapter  that 
the  colonists  did  not  lack  for  books,  and  that  those  which 
deserve  the  term  literature  were  on  their  shelves  in  a  fair 
proportion  for  the  time.  Evidence  of  the  possession  of  still 
other  books,  and  of  their  familiarity  with  and  use  of  them, 
is  to  be  found  in  the  quotations  with  which  they  embellished 
their  own  writings. 

7*  George  Fox,  then  visiting  New  England. 

"William  Coddington  to  John  Winthrop,  Jr.,  1672.    VVinthrop  Papers,  ii.  289. 

*•>  June  29,  1672.     "My  last"  refers  to  the  letter  just  quoted. 

*' William  Coddington  to  John  Winthrop,  Jr.  Winthrop  Papers,  ii.  291.  The 
reference  to  copying  books  by  hand  demonstrates  another  method  of  supple- 
menting libraries.  Edward  Taylor  of  Westfield  had  a  considerable  library  of  books 
which  he  had  himself  copied  and  bound. 

*' John  Winthrop,  Jr.,  to  Roger  Williams,  January  6,  1675.  Winthrop  Papers, 
i.  306.     If  only  he  had  mentioned  the  title! 

^i  Samuel  Angier  to  Governor  Hinckley  of  Plymouth,  January  29,  1677.  Mr. 
Walley  was  preacher  at  Barnstable.  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Collec- 
tions, 4th  Series,  v.  13.     Governor  Hinckley  was  a  writer  of  verse. 


Chapter  VIII:  Qiiotations  by 
New  England  Writers. 


AS  a  large  part  of  the  published  writings  of  the  New 
Englanders  consisted  of  sermons,  and  as  it  seems 
^  to  have  been  against  their  custom  to  use  in  their 
sermons  any  quotations  except  from  Scripture  or  rarely 
from  some  of  the  Fathers,  the  field  for  quotations  is  some- 
what limited.  It  is  still  further  limited  by  the  fact  that 
few  of  the  writers  of  narrative  embellish  their  narratives 
with  borrowed  ornaments,  either  of  prose  or  of  poetry. 
From  such  books  as  do  not  belong  to  these  two  classes,  from 
letters,  and  from  a  few  narratives,  the  quotations  to  be 
included  are  taken. 

Daniel  Gookin,  in  his  "Historical  Collections  of  the  In- 
dians," Chapter  IV,  referred  to  "  that  seraphick  prediction  of 
holy  Herbert,  that  excellent  poet,  ....  which  he  ele- 
gantly declared  in  that  poem:  Herbert,  Church  Militant, 
190,  191  page."  He  proceeds  to  quote  twenty-four  lines, 
from 

Religion  stands  on  tiptoe  in  our  land 
Ready  to  pass  to  the  American  strand 
to 

But  lends  to  us,  shall  be  our  desolation. 

From  his  reference  to  the  paging,  which  is  the  same  in  the 
fifth  edition  as  in  the  first,  it  is  evident  that  he  had  a  copy 
of  Herbert's  "The  Temple"  before  him.  There  are  two  or 
three  errors  in  the  quotation  which  he  may  have  made  in 
copying,  but  which  are  more  likely  typesetters'  mistakes. 
In  a  letter  to  Increase  Mather,  Nathaniel  Morton  wrote, 

....  and  in  some  sort  comply  with  our  Englis  Poett,  George 
Withers;  (saith  hee)  Alas  that  I  was  borne  soe  late,  or  else  soe 


138      Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

soone;    to  see  soe  cleare.  soe  bright  a  morne,  soe  darke  an  after- 
noone.' 

Thomas  Shepard,  writing  to  his  son,  then  entering  Har- 
vard, in  regard  to  his  studies,  echoed  Bacon's  essay,  "Of 
Studies": 

Lett  your  studies  be  so  ordered  as  to  have  variety  of  Studies 
before  you,  that  when  you  are  weary  of  one  book,  you  may  take 
pleasure  (through  this  variety)  in  another:  and  for  this  End  read 
some  Histories  often,  which  (they  Say)  make  men  wise,  as  Poets 
make  witty;  both  which  are  pleasant  things  in  the  midst  of  more 
difficult  studies.^ 

The  witchcraft  controversies  naturally  called  forth  much 
citing  of  authorities.  John  Hale,  in  his  "Modest  Enquiry," 
referred  to  or  quoted  the  following: 

Bernard^ 

Baxter  and  R.  Burton,  their  Histories  about  witches/ 

Finch:  Common  Law^ 

Keeble  of  the  Common  Law* 

St.  Germans:  Abridgment  of  Common  Law 

Wierus:  De  Praestigiis  Demonum' 

He   also  quoted   a  story   by  "my  Lord   Cook,"  evidently 

I  Written  August  8,  1679.     Mather  Papers,  p.  594. 

'Publications  of  the  Colonial  Society  of  Massachusetts,  xiv.  194.  Probably- 
written  in  1672,  as  Thomas  Shepard,  third  of  that  name,  was  of  the  class  of  1676. 
Bacon's  phrase  is  ''Histories  make  Men  Wise;  Poets  Witty."  Shepard  may  have 
acquired  this  phrase  at  second  hand;  but,  as  several  copies  of  the  "Essays"  have 
already  been  noted  in  the  comparatively  hyf  libraries  of  which  record  remains, 
presumably  he  took  it  from  its  source. 

3  Bernard,  "Guide  to  Grand-Jury  men   •    .    .    in  cases  of  Witchcraft,"  1627. 

•t  Baxter,  "The  Certainty  of  the  Worlds  of  Spirits  fully  evinced  by  unquestion- 
able Histories  of  Apparitions  and  Witchcrafts,"  1691.  R.  Burton,  or  R.  B.,  was  the 
pseudonym  of  Nathaniel  Crouch,  publisher  of  London,  who  wrote  many  chap- 
books.     The  reference  may  be  to  "The  Kingdom  of  Darkness,"  1688. 

s  Sir  Henry  Finch,  "Treatise  of  Common  Law,"  1627,  1638,  1678;  or  "Sum- 
mary of  Common  Law,"  1673. 

^Joseph  Keeble  wrote  "Statutes,"  1676,  and  "An  Assistance  to  Justices  of  the 
Peace,"  1683,  1689. 

7  Johann  Weyer,  a  Rhenish  physician,  1515-1588;  quoted  by  the  Mathers,  and 
also  by  Burton  in  "The  Anatomy  of  Melancholy." 


Quotations  by  New  England  Writers.         i  39 

Sir  Edward  Coke.  A  phrase  which  he  used,  "A  dwarf  upon 
a  giants  shoulders  can  see  farther  than  a  giant,"  may  have 
been  taken  from  Burton's  "Anatomy  of  Melancholy,"  where 
it  is  found;*^  it  may,  however,  have  been  a  current  phrase. 

Robert  Calef,  merchant  of  Boston,  in  his  attack  on  the 
Mathers  which  he  called  "More  Wonders  of  the  Invisible 
World"  in  mockery  of  Cotton  Mather's  "Wonders  of  the  In- 
visible World,"  also  showed  familiarity  with  the  literature  of 
demonology,  from  which  he  freely  quoted: 

And  in  the  Mercury  for  the  month  of  February,  1695,  there 
is  this  account'  [from  which  he  quotes] 

....  the  indians'  adorations,  which  agrees  well  with  what 
A.  Ross  sets  forth,  in  his  Mistag.  Poetic,  p.  ii6,'°  that   .... 

Bernard's  work  on  witches" 

Mr.  Gaule's  book  on  witches" 

Perkins'  work  on  witches'^ 

Bodin'^ 

....    the  fancies  of  Trithemius'5 

Calef  was  not  content,  however,  with  recent  authors  on 
the  subject,  but  went  back  to  the  lives  of  Justin  Martyr, 
Apollonius  Tyaneus,  and  Julian  the  Apostate,  and  to  the 
works  of  Josephus;  he  even  quoted  Ovid  and  Virgil.  He 
has  two  quotations  from  Sandys'  metrical  translation  of  the 
"Metamorphoses":  eighteen  lines  from  Liber  7,  and  nine 
from  Liber  14;  and  two  passages  from  a  metrical  translation 
of  Virgil's  "Bucolics"  which  I  have  been  unable  to  identify: 

*  Democritus  to  the  Reader,  p.  8,  Chatto  &  Windus  edition,  1907. 

'P.  XV.  Calef's  book  was  written  in  1697. 

'»  P.  129.  Alexander  Ross,  "Mystagogus  Poeticus,  or  the  Muses  Interpreter," 
London,  1647. 

"  See  p.  138  note  3,  above. 

"  John  Gaule,  "Select  Cases  of  Conscience  touching  Witches  and  Witchcrafts," 
London, 1646. 

'3  "Discourse  of  the  Damned  Art  of  Witchcraft,"  1608. 

'*  Jean  Bodin,  "Demonology." 

'5  Johann  Trithemius,  I462-1516. 


140     Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

two  lines  from  Eclogue  13,  and  eleven  lines  from  Eclogue  8. 
Although  Calef  complained  that  he  was  not  an  educated  man, 
in  contrast  to  the  Mathers  whom  he  was  opposing,  he  knew 
both  his  Virgil  and  his  Ovid,  in  English  at  least,  sufficiently 
well  to  recall  passages  which  very  effectively  illustrated  his 
point  that  the  current  notions  of  witchcraft  came  from 
paganism  and  had  no  authority  from  the  Bible. 

The  Mathers,  especially  Cotton,  with  his  vast  learning 
and  a  willingness  to  exhibit  it,  are  very  helpful  to  this  study 
because  they  did  quote  so  freely  as  to  give  some  idea  of  the 
books  with  which  they  were  familiar.  Increase  Mather 
quoted  or  cited  (giving  page  or  chapter  reference)  at  least 
one  hundred  and  thirty  different  authors,  not  including  anon- 
ymous works  quoted  or  cited,  such  as  "The  History  of 
Sham  Plots"  or  the  "German  Ephemerides."  Besides  these 
there  are  over  thirty  authors  to  whom  he  referred  familiarly, 
but  did  not  directly  use.  Cotton  Mather  quoted  or  cited  over 
three  hundred  authors,  and  referred  without  direct  use  to 
nearly  two  hundred  others.  As  it  would  be  tedious  to  com- 
ment on  all  of  these,  only  a  few  will  be  discussed,  the  rest 
being  merely  listed. 

The  most  interesting  quotation  by  Increase  Mather  is 
one  from  Burton's  "Anatomy  of  Melancholy."  Mather 
wrote  :^'' 

....  There  is  in  special,  a  sort  of  melancholy  madness, 
which  is  called  lycanthropia  or  Inpina  insania,  h.  e.,  when  men 
imagine  themselves  to  be  turned  into  wolves  or  other  beasts. 
Hippocrates  relates  concerning  the  daughters  of  king  Prsetus,  that 
they  thought  themselves  kine.  Wierus  {de  Prastigiis  Dcemonum,i. 
iii.  c.  21)  speaketh  of  one  in  Padua,  that  would  not  believe  to  the 
contrary  but  that  he  was  a  wolf;  and  of  a  Spaniard,  who  thought 
himself  a  bear.  Euwichius  (and  from  him  Horstius)  writeth  of  a 
man  that  was  found  in  a  barn  under  the  hay,  howling  and  saying 
he  was  a  wolf.  The  foolish  rusticks,  who  surprized  him,  began  to 
flay  him,  that  so  they  might  see  if  he  had  not  hair  growing  on  the 

'*  Remarkable  Providences,  p.  122. 


Quotations  by  New  England  Writers.         1 4 1 

inside  of  his  skin.  Forestus  has  many  instances  to  this  purpose. 
Heurnius  saith,  that  it  is  a  disease  frequent  in  Bohemia  and  Hun- 
garia.  No  doubt  but  this  disease  gave  occasion  to  Pliny's  asser- 
tion, that  some  men  in  his  time  were  turned  into  wolves,  and  from 
wolves  into  men  again.  Hence  was  Ovid's  fable  of  Lycaon,  and 
the  tale  of  Pausanius  being  ten  years  a  wolf,  and  then  a  man 
again.  He  that  would  see  more  instances,  may  read  Austin,  de 
Civ.  Dei.  i-.  xviii,  c.  5;  Burton  of  Melancholly,  page  9.  They  that 
are  subject  unto  this  malady,  for  the  most  part  lye  hid  all  the 
day,  and  go  abroad  in  the  night,  barking  and  howling  at  graves 
and  in  desarts.  We  may  suppose  that  Nebuchadnezzar  was 
troubled  with  this  disease. 

From  Mather's  brief  reference  to  Burton  in  the  above 
no  one  v^ould  imagine  his  real  indebtedness  to  him  for 
almost  every  detail  in  the  passage.  An  idea  of  his  wholesale 
borroM^ing  in  this  instance  will  be  obtained  by  a  comparison 
of  this  with  the  parallel  passage  in  Burton  v^hich  follows: 

Lycanthropia,  which  Avicenna  calls  Cucubuth,  others  Lupinam 
insaniam,  or  Wolf-madness,  when  men  run  howling  about  graves 
and  fields  in  the  night,  and  will  not  be  persuaded  but  that  they 
are  wolves,  or  some  such  beasts.  /Fltius  and  Paulus  call  it  a 
kind  of  melancholy;  but  I  should  rather  refer  it  to  madness,  as 
most  do.  Some  make  a  doubt  of  it  whether  there  be  any  such 
disease.  Donat  ab  Altomari  saith,  that  he  saw  two  of  them  in 
his  time:  Wierus  tells  a  story  of  such  a  one  at  Padua  1541,  that 
would  not  believe  to  the  contrary,  but  that  he  was  a  wolf.  He 
hath  another  instance  of  a  Spaniard,  who  thought  himself  a  bear; 
Forrestus  confirms  as  much  by  many  examples;  one  amongst  the 
rest  of  which  he  was  an  eye-witness,  at  Alcmaer  in  Holland,  a 
poor  husbandman  that  still  hunted  about  graves,  and  kept  in 
churchyards,  of  a  pale,  black,  ugly,  and  fearful  look.  Such  be- 
like, or  little  better,  were  King  Praetus'  daughters,  that  thought 
themselves  kine.  And  Nebuchadnezzar  in  Daniel,  as  some  inter- 
preters hold,  was  only  troubled  with  this  kind  of  madness.  This 
disease  perhaps  gave  occasion  to  that  bold  assertion  of  Pliny, 
"some  men  were  turned  into  wolves  in  his  time,  and  from  wolves 
to  men  again:"  and  to  that  fable  of  Pausanias,  of  a  man  that  was 
ten  years  a  wolf,  and  afterwards  turned  to  his  former  shape:    to 


142      Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

Ovid's  tale  of  Lycaon,  &c.  He  that  is  desirous  to  hear  of  this 
disease,  or  more  examples,  let  him  read  Austin  in  his  i8th  book 
de  Civitate  Dei,  cap.  5.  Mizaldus,  cent.  5.  77.  Sckenkius,  lib.  i. 
Hildesheiniy  ....  [names  several  others].  This  malady,  saith 
Avicenna,  troubleth  men  most  in  February,  and  is  now-a-days 
frequent  in  Bohemia  and  Hungary,  according  to  Heurnius. 
Schernitzius  will  have  it  common  in  Livonia.  They  lie  hid  most 
part  all  day,  and  go  abroad  in  the  night,  barking,  howling,  at 
graves  and  deserts;   .    .    .    .'^ 

There  are  one  or  two  original  items  in  Mather's,  but 
nearly  everything  is  borrowed,  even  to  the  phraseology, 
except  the  order.  Was  Mather  the  first  of  the  many  who 
have  borrowed  from  the  "Anatomy"  without  giving  due 
credit? 

Increase  Mather  knew  Sir  Thomas  Browne  as  well  as 
Burton,  and  quoted  three  times  from  his  "Pseudodoxia  Epi- 
demica,"'*  citing  the  page  once.  He  also  cited  Sir  Kenelme 
Digby's  "Discourse  of  Bodies,"  pp.  409,  410.^^  Thomas  Fuller 
he  cited  and  quoted;^"  and  of  course  Joseph  Glanvil,  whose 
writings  were  the  chief  stronghold  of  those  who  believed  in 
the  necessity  of  witch-hunting.^^  His  acceptance  of  the  ab- 
surdities of  the  witchcraft  delusions  was  not,  however,  due 
to  any  lack  of  access  to  or  familiarity  with  the  best  scientific 
writings  of  his  time.  He  took  illustrations  from  five  num- 
bers of  the  Philosophical  Transactions  of  the  Royal   So- 

"Pp.  88,  89,  Chatto  &  Windus  edition,  1907. 

'*  "Johnston  (and  from  him  Dr.  Browne  in  his  Vulgar  Errors)  hath  truly  asserted 
the  contrary."  (Remarkable  Providences,  p.  73.)  "Dr.  Browne,  in  his  Pj^z/^o- 
^o;if/a  ^^iW^OT/Va,  p.  63,  does  rationally  suppose  ..."  (/^/<i.,  p.  74.)  There  is 
also  a  reference  on  p.  76. 

'»  Ibid^  p.  72. 

"  "Such  persons  do  (as  Fuller  speaks)  fence  themselves  ..."  {Ibid.,  p.  180.) 
"The  like  is  reported  by  Dr.  Fuller,  in  his  Church  History,"  {Ibid.,  p.  261.)  "Ful- 
ler's History  of  the  Church  p.  424."  (Prayer,  Early  History  of  New  England,  p. 
269.) 

"  He  quotes  or  cites  from  the  "Sadducismus  Triumphatus  or  the  Collection  of 
Modern  Relations,"  on  pages  112,  127,  133,  I49,  156,  158,  166,  170,  171,  of  Re- 
markable Providences. 


Quotations  by  New  England  Writers.         143 

ciety,^-  from  two  volumes  of  the  Philosophical  Conferences 
of  the  Virtuosi  of  France,^'  and  from  half  a  dozen  volumes  of 
the  "German  Ephemerides;"^'*  he  also  quoted  Robert  Hooke" 
and  Robert  Boyle.-*'  Of  the  latter  he  remarked  in  the  Preface 
to  "Remarkable  Providences,"  "I  have  often  wished  that 
the  Natural  History  of  New-England  might  be  written  and 
published  to  the  world;  the  rules  and  method  described  by 
that  learned  and  excellent  person  Robert  Boyle,  Esq.,  being 
duely  observed  therein." 

The  list  of  the  other  books  or  writers  made  use  of  by 
Increase  Mather,  given  in  the  Appendix,  will  show  the  va- 
riety of  his  reading,  and,  with  the  lists  already  given  on 
pages  130  and  131,  will  throw  light  upon  the  content  of 
his  library. 

The  quotations  by  Cotton  Mather  are  not  only  more  in 
number  than  his  father's,  but  have  a  more  literary  tone  at 
times,  partly  because  they  include  more  poetry.  He  was 
familiar  with  "Paradise  Lost,"  as  is  shown  by  three  well 
chosen  passages  from  that  poem  which  he  used  in  the 
"Magnalia."  Charles  Francis  Adams,  although  he  quotes 
these  passages,  makes  the  inference  that  we  have  no  posi- 
tive record  of  any  copy  of  Milton's  poems  in  New  England 
before  1720;"  a  study  of  Mather's  treatment  of  the  passages 
he  quotes  will,  however,  I  think,  convince  the  reader  that 
there  must  have  been  at  least  one  copy  of  "Paradise  Lost" 
in  New  England  before  1698,  lying  open  on  Cotton  Mather's 
table  as  he  wrote  his  greatest  book.     Speaking  of  the  diffi- 

"  Numbers  cited  are  for  1665,  1666,  1670,  1672,  and  1676.  Remarkable  Provi- 
dences, pp.  83,  226,  213,  216,  and  219,  respectively. 

'^  Vols,  i  and  ii.  Remarkable  Providences,  pp.  212,  82. 

'*  Also  called  the  "Observations  of  the  Imperial  Academy."  The  years  quoted 
are  1670,  1671,  1675,  i679>  '687,  1689. 

's  "the  late  Philosophical  Collections,  published  by  Mr.  Robert  Hook,  page  9." 

**  "The  truly  noble  and  honourable  Robert  Boyle,  Esq.,  ...  in  his  book  of 
the  Usefulness  of  Natural  Philosophy,    p.  15." 

''Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Proceedings,  xlii.  154  ff.  See,  however, 
p.  12^  above,  and  p.  181,  below. 


1 44      Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

culties  met  by  the  colonists  in  their  wars  with  the  Indians, 
he  wrote  :-^ 

....  they  found  that  they  were  like  to  make  no  weapons 
reach  their  enswamped  adversaries,  except  Mr.  Milton  could  have 
shown  them  how 

To  have  pluckt  up  the  hills  with  all  their  load — 
Rocks,  waters,  woods — and  by  their  shaggy  tops, 
Up-lifting,  bore  them  in  their  hands,  therewith 
The  rebel  host  to  've  over-whelm'd. — 

A  comparison  of  this  with  the  original,  "Paradise  Lost,"  VI, 
643-647,  650-651,  shows  that  Mather's  changes  are  not 
misquotations  from  memory,  but  careful  changes,  evidently 
with  the  original  before  him,  to  preserve  the  rhythm  and 
at  the  same  time  fit  the  new  context. 

From  their  foundations,  loosening  to  and  fro. 
They  plucked  the  seated  hills,  with  all  their  load. 
Rocks,  waters,  woods,  and,  by  the  shaggy  tops 
Uplifting,  bore  them  in  their  hands.     Amaze, 
Be  sure,  and  terror,  seized  the  rebel  host. 


Till  on  those  cursed  engines'  triple  row 
They  saw  them  whelmed,   .... 

The  great  impression  made  upon  Mather  by  the  details 
of  the  contest  between  the  rebel  host  and  the  forces  of  the 
Almighty  is  shown  by  his  own  statement  and  by  the  two 
other  paraphrases  on  the  poem: 

....  but  we  who  felt  ourselves  assaulted  by  unknown 
numbers  of  devils  in  flesh  on  every  side  of  us,  and  knew  that  our 
minute  numbers  employ'd  in  the  service  against  them,  were  pro- 
portionably  more  to  us  than  mighty  legions  are  to  nations  that 
have  existed  as  many  centuries  as  our  colonies  have  years  in  the 
world,  can  scarce  forbear  taking  the  colours  in  the  Sixth  Book  of 
Milton  to  describe  our  story  :^« 

»*  Magnalia,  i.  183. 
^  Ibid.  ii.  566. 


Quotations  by  New  England  Writers.         i  45 

For  after  this,  the  Auri  sacra  Fames ^  that  "cursed  hunger  of 
lucre,"  in  the  diverse  nations  of  Europeans  here,  in  diverse  colonies 
bordering  upon  one  another,  soon  furnished  the  salvages  with 
tools  to  destroy  those  that  furnish'd  them: 

— Tools,  pregnant  with  infernal  flame. 
Which  into  hollow  engines,  long  and  round. 
Thick  ramm'd  at  the  other  bore,  with  touch  of  fire 
Dilated  and  infuriate,  doth  send  forth 
From  far  with  thund'ring  noise  among  their  foes 
Such  implements  of  mischief,  as  to  dash 
To  pieces  and  o'erwhelm  whatever  stands 
Adverse. — ■^° 

Milton,  "Paradise  Lost,"  VI,  482-491,  wrote: 

These  in  their  dark  nativity  the  Deep 
Shall  yield  us,  pregnant  with  infernal  flame; 
Which,  into  hollow  engines  long  and  round 
Thick-rammed,  at  the  other  bore  with  touch  of  fire 
Dilated  and  infuriate,  shall  send  forth 
From  far,  with  thundering  noise,  among  our  foes 
Such  implements  of  mischief  as  shall  dash 
To  pieces  and  o'erwhelm  whatever  stands 
Adverse,  that  they  shall  fear  we  have  disarmed 
The  Thunderer  of  his  only  dreaded  bolt. 

Mather,  "Magnalia,"  ii.  568. 

And  now,  sic  magyiis  componere  parva!     Reader, 

And  now  their  mightiest  quell'd,  the  battel  swerved. 

With  many  an  inrode  gor'd;  deformed  rout 

Enter'd,  and  foul  disorder;  all  the  ground 

With  shiver'd  armour  strown,  and  on  a  heap. 

Salvage  and  Sagamore  lay  overturn'd. 

And  fiery,  foaming  blacks:  what  stood,  recoil'd, 

O'er  wearied,  and  with  panick  fear  surpris'd. 

"Paradise  Lost,"  VI,  386-393. 

And  now,  their  mightiest  quelled,  the  battle  swerved, 
With  many  an  inroad  gored;  deformed  rout 

5°  Ibid.,  ii.  557. 


146     Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

Entered,  and  foul  disorder;  all  the  ground 
With  shivered  armour  strown,  and  on  a  heap 
Chariot  and  charioter  lay  overturned, 
And  fiery  foaming  steeds;  what  stood  recoiled, 
O'er-wearied,  through  the  faint  Satanic  host, 
Defensive  scarce,  or  with  pale  fear  surprised — 

Chaucer,  too,  Mather  evidently  knew,  for  he  hoped  "that 
saying  of  old  Chaucer  [might]  be  remembred,  'To  do  the 
genteel  deeds,  that  makes  the  gentleman.'  "^^  Presumably 
this  is  a  recollection  of  a  passage  in  the  "Wife  of  Bath's 
Tale." 

Loke  who  that  is  most  vertuous  alway, 
Privee  and  apert,  and  most  entendeth  ay 
To  do  the  gentil  dedes  that  he  can, 
And  tak  him  for  the  grettest  gentil  man.-'^ 

If  the  phrase  had  come  to  Mather  as  a  current  saying  it 
would  hardly  have  had  Chaucer's  name  attached;  at  least 
it  is  hardly  to  be  expected  that  people  in  general  in  New 
England  would  be  so  careful  to  preserve  the  name  of  a  poet 
of  whom  Pope  could  write  so  slightingly,  within  ten  years, 

Now  length  of  fame  (our  second  life)  is  lost. 
And  bare  threescore  is  all  e'en  that  can  boast; 
Our  sons  their  fathers'  failing  language  see. 
And  such  as  Chaucer  is,  shall  Dryden  be. 

Presumably  Mather  had  a  copy  of  Chaucer,  or  had  used 
the  Harvard  Library  copy.^^  He  made  one  other  reference  to 
Chaucer,  speaking  of  "the  famous  old  Chaucer's  motto: 

3'  Ibid.  i.  107. 

3»  Chaucer,  D.  1113-1116  (Skeat's  Oxford  edition). 

33  As  the  copy  of  Chaucer  listed  in  the  1723  catalogue  of  the  Harvard  Library- 
is  reported  as  having  no  title  page  (see  p.  273,  below),  it  is  probably  not  the  Urry 
edition  of  1721,  which  would  hardly  be  so  mutilated  in  a  little  more  than  a  year, 
the  catalogue  being  compiled  largely  in  1722;  it  is  then  either  one  of  the  Speght 
editions  of  1598,  1602,  or  1687,  or  some  earlier  edition.  In  any  case  it  might 
easily  have  been  in  the  college  library  for  several  years  before  the  "Magnalia"  was 
written. 


Quotations  by  New  England  Writers.         147 

Mors  mihi  cerumnarum  requies.''^'^  On  Chaucer's  tomb  in 
Westminster  Abbey  this  is  given  as  Mrumnarum  requies 
mors. 

Other  quotations  by  Cotton  Mather  are  from  Cowley's 
Latin  poems,^^  Fuller's  "Church  History"  and  other  writings,^^ 
James  Howel's  "Familiar  Letters,""  Dr.  Burnet's  "History  of 
the  Reformation,"^*^  Wood's  "Athenae  Oxoniensis,"^^  and  so 
on.  From  Sir  Richard  Blackmore's  "Prince  Arthur,"  pub- 
lished in  1695,  while  the  "Magnalia"  was  being  written,  he 
quoted  two  passages,  one  of  26  lines. ^^  Besides  these  quota- 
tions he  has  references  to  "Hudibras,"'*^  to  Tom  Tusser's  lines 
on  the  harshness  of  Nicholas  Udall,  master  of  Eton,''^  to  Ron- 
sard's  comment  on  DuBartas,"*^  to  Rabelais'  "Pantagruel,"^^ 
and  to  the  legend  of  the  Pied  Piper. ^^  He  seems,  also,  to  have 

34  Magnalia,  ii.  613.  The  phrase  really  belongs  to  Sallust  (Catiline,  51.20). 
It  is  not  found  in  any  edition  of  Chaucer  previous  to  Urry's  of  1721.  Mather 
probably  became  acquainted  with  it  through  the  account  of  Chaucer's  tomb  given 
in  Cambden's  "Reges,  Reginas,  Nobiles,  et  Alij  in  Ecclesia  Collegiata  B.  Petri 
Westmonasterij  Sepulti,"  London,  1606,  pp.  66,  67. 

35  On  the  title  page  of  the  4th  Book  are  three  lines  from  the  "Plantarum,"  Lib. 
5,  end. 

315  In  Magnalia,  i.  290,  he  quotes  from  the  "Church  History,"  Cent,  xvii.  Book  xi. 
213;  in  Magnalia,  ii.  15,  from  the  "History  of  Cambridge  University,"  in  Mag- 
nalia, i.  76,  from  his  "Comment  on  Ruth." 

37  Magnalia,  i.  27,  35;  ii.  27,  46. 

38  Ibid.,  i.  441. 

^^  Ibid.,  passim.  He  sometimes  vents  his  spleen  at  this  anti-Puritan  writer: 
"as  a  certain  woodden  historian   .    .    .   has  reported,"  (Magnalia,  i.  321). 

*'"  Ibid.,  i.  65,  "Prince  Arthur,"  Book  I,  552-567;  569-579.  Ibid.,  Title  page  to 
Book  IV,  "Prince  Arthur,"  Book  II,  101-103.  See  p.  198,  below,  for  correspon- 
dence between  Mather  and  Blackmore. 

•"  Magnalia,  i.  58,  tells  of  use  of  Weymouth  episode  in  Hudibras. 

^^  Ibid.,  i.  303,  "whom  now  we  may  venture,  after  poor  Tom  Tusser,  to  call, 
'the  severest  of  men.'  " 

"3  Ibid.,  ii.  28. 

^  Ibid.,  ii.  645:  "Let  us  now  leave  our  friend  Maule's  works  as  a  fit  volume  to 
be  an  appendix  unto  the  famous  ^Tartaretus,'  and  worthy  of  a  room  in  Pantagruel's 
library." 

^3  This  he  might  have  found  in  Burton's  "Anatomy  of  Melancholy"  or  Howel's 
"Letters;"  but  he  seems  to  have  taken  it  from  Richard  Verstegan's  "Restitution  of 
Decayed  Intelligence  in  Antiquities,"  p.  92  (edition  of  1673).  Mather  speaks  of 
"the  Transylvanian  children;"    there  is  no  mention  of  Transylvania  in  either 


148      Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

been  familiar  with  "Don  Quixote,"  for  he  speaks  of  "ro- 
mances oi  Don  Quixote  and  the  Seven  Champions  "*^  and  else- 
where'*^ speaks  of  the  "quixotism"  of  Roger  Williams.  It 
would  be  interesting  to  know  whether  Mather  "coined"  that 
term  for  himself;  the  "New  English  Dictionary"  records  but 
one  use  of  it  earlier  than  this,  in  a  book  or  tract,  "Pulpit 
Popery,  True  Popery,"  1688,  and  quotes  the  next  example 
from  ^he  Briton,  No.  20,  1723.  Certainly  Cotton  Mather, 
before  the  end  of  the  century,  had  considerable  literary  back- 
ground. The  other  books  which  he  quoted  or  cited  are  listed 
in  the  Appendix. 

In  addition  to  all  these.  Cotton  Mather  was  fond  of  using 
such  phrases  as  "a  saying  of  the  Jews,"  "the  Arabian 
proverb,"  "an  account  of  a  certain  bishop  of  Rome,"  "the 
Italian  proverb,"  "a  certain  proverb  in  x'^sia,"  "the  witty 
epigrammattst  hath  told  us,"  "as  he  that  writes  the  life  of 
holy  Mr.  Bains  expresses  it,"  "the  author  of  the  life  of 
Belgic  Wallseus,"  "the  famous  judge's  motto,"  etc.  In  the 
"Magnalia"^^  occur  two  lines  from  Herbert,  which,  however, 
are  not  quoted  by  Mather,  but  in  a  prefatory  epistle  written 
by  Matthew  Mead  of  London.  Presumably  Mather  could 
have  quoted  Herbert  had  he  cared  to,  as  a  copy  of  Herbert's 
poems  was  in  his  father's  library  as  early  as  1664.^^ 

Samuel  Sewall's  "Diary"  and  "Letter-Book"  contain  a  few- 
references  to  his  reading.  On  his  voyage  to  England  in  1688 
he  carried  with  him  a  volume  by  Dr.  Preston,  Manton's  "Ex- 
position of  James,"  and  Erasmus.^'*  At  another  time  he  re- 
corded saying  to  Benjamin  Colman,  "Philomela  would  have 

Burton  or  Howel,  but  Verstegan  tells  the  tale  in  connection  with  his  account  of 
the  Transylvanian  Saxons,  giving  the  location  of  the  episode,  however,  as  do  the 
others,  in  Brunswick,  at  Hamel.  Mather's  memory  was  inaccurate  here.  A  copy 
of  Verstegan's  book  was  in  his  father's  library;  see  p.  53,  above. 

4^  Magnalia,  i.  208. 

t'  Ibid.,  ii.  497. 

■»8  Ibid.,  ii.  153. 

49  See  p.  52,  above. 

s"  "my  Erasmus  was  quite  loosened  out  of  the  Binding  by  the  breaking  of  the 
water  into  Cabbin."     (Diary,  i.  238.) 


[Quotations  by  New  England  Writers.         149 

found  out  some  words  .  .  .  .,""  Philomela  being  the  wow 
de  plume  of  Elizabeth  Singer  Rowe,  a  popular  English  poet- 
ess of  the  day.  On  the  cover  of  his  journal  he  copied  in  full 
"An  Elegie  on  Mrs.  Alicia  Lisle,  which  for  high  Treason  was 
beheaded  at  Winchester,  September  the  2^  1685,"  evidently 
taken  from  an  English  broadside."  This  is  followed  by 
letters  dated  1686,  and  therefore  was  copied  not  long  after 
publication.  Sewall  was  no  doubt  especially  interested  in 
this  poem  because  one  of  the  daughters  of  the  unfortunate 
Lady  Alice  Lisle  was  living  in  Boston,  the  wife  of  Hezekiah 
Usher,  and  formerly  wife  of  President  Hoar  of  Harvard. ^^ 
The  following  item  shows  his  interest  in  reading,  and  his 
taste.     He  was  trying  a  case  at  Bristol  at  the  time. 

Rain  hinder'd  our  setting  out  that  day.  So  after  diner  at  Mr. 
Saffin's,  Not  knowing  better  how  to  bestow  my  time,  Look'd  on 
Mr.  Saffin's  Books,  and  lit  on  Dr.  Fullers  History  of  the  Worthies 
of  England,  and  in  p.  116.  117.  found  mention  made  of  the  Inun- 
dation at  Coventry,  on  Friday  April,  17.  in  the  Maioralty  of 
Henry  Sewall  my  Father's  Grandfather.  Mention  is  made  p.  134. 
of  W""  Dugdale's  Illustrations  of  Warwickshire. ^^ 

Sewall  did  not  need  to  go  to  Bristol  to  read  Fuller,  however, 
for  two  passages  in  his  "Letter-Book"  would  indicate  that 
he  had  more  than  one  volume  of  Fuller  in  his  own  library, 
and  was  familiar  with  their  contents. 

I  transcribe  the  following  passage  out  of  Dr.  Fuller's  Engl[ish] 
Worthies  in  London,  p.  202^5   .... 

Transcribed  the  passages  of  George  Abbot  Archb[ishop]  out 
of  Fuller's  Ch[urch]  History;    knew  not  what  better  to  write. s^ 

s'  Ibid.,  i.  507. 
5=  Ibid.,  ii.  8. 

53  See  note  4,  p.  99,  above. 

54  Diary,  i.  484.     Ca.  1695. 

55  Letter-Book,  i.  369. 

s'  Ibid.,  i.  374.  Although'Sewall  wrote  that  "  he  knew  not  what  better  to  write," 
the  quotation  was  not  a  mere  spacefiller  but  recorded  a  close  parallel  to  a  recent 
event  in  the  life  of  the  man  to  whom  he  was  writing.  Sewall  knew  his  Fuller  well 
enough  to  draw  upon  it  for  illustrations. 


150     Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

Other  authors  or  books  which  he  quoted,  or  to  which  he 
referred,  are:  Augustine's  Psalms,"  Baxter's  "Glorious  King- 
dom of  Christ  Described,"''^  Calvin's  "Institutions,""  Cal- 
amy's  "Life  of  Baxter,"*"'  Horn's  "De  Originibus  Ameri- 
canis,"''^  Hornius'  "Carthaginian  Dream, "•'^  Pareus'  "Com- 
mentaries,""^ Thorowgood's  "Jews  in  America,""*  and  The 
London  Gazette  of  June  27,  1700,"^ 

If  the  anonymous  lines  to  Cotton  Mather,  written  about 
1700,"" 

For  Grace  and  Act  and  an  Illustrious  Fame 
Who  would  not  look  from  such  an  Ominous  Name^ 
Where  Two  Great  Names  their  Sanctuary  take, 
And  in  a  Third  combined,  a  Greater  make/ 

are,  as  Barrett  Wendell  very  reasonably  suggests,"  in  imi- 
tation of  Dryden's  lines  "Under  Milton's  Picture" 

Three  poets,  in  three  distant  ages  born, 
Greece,  Italy,  and  England,  did  adorn. 
The  first,  in  loftiness  of  thought  surpassed; 
The  next,  in  majesty;  in  both,  the  last. 
The  force  of  nature  could  no  further  go; 
To  make  a  third,  she  joined  the  former  two. 

then  we  have  another  evidence  of  acquaintance  with  Milton's 

57  Ibid.,  i.  199.  ' 

5'  Ibid.,  ii.  202. 

59  Ibid.,  i.  260. 

*"  Ibid.,  i.  294.  He  wrote  to  Calamy  to  correct  statements  in  the  latter's  abridg- 
ment of  Baxter's  Life. 

*'  Ibid.,  i.  23.    See  Publications  of  the  Colonial  Society  of  Massachusetts,  xiv.  167. 

'^  Letter-Book,  i.  289. 

*3  Diary,  i.  115. 

*i  Letter-Book,  i.  22. 

^^  Ibid.,  i.  16. 

'^Mather  copied  these  lines  in  his  diary  on  February  12,  1700,  under  the  title 
Ab  Amico  Satis  Adidatore  on  Cotton  Mather,  with  the  comment  "Too  gross  Flat- 
tery for  me  to  Transcribe;  (tho'  the  Poetry  be  good."  According  to  the  editor 
of  the  Diary  the  lines  are  struck  out  in  the  manuscript — but  in  such  a  man- 
ner that  they  may  still  be  read  easily. 

^7  Cotton  Mather,  p.  182  note. 


Quotations  by  New  England  Writers.        151 

poems,  or  at  least  with  "Paradise  Lost,"  in  the  1688  edition 
of  which  these  lines  first  appeared. 

The  foregoing  quotations  not  only  add  many  items  to 
the  book  lists  of  the  preceding  chapter,  but  also  give  some 
idea  of  the  familiarity  of  the  colonists  with  the  books  which 
they  possessed.  They  certainly  were  not  as  lacking  in  books 
as  has  been  generally  believed;  and  it  seems  equally  true 
that  they  read  and  appreciated  such  literary  books  as  they 
possessed  to  an  extent  for  which  they  have  never  been  given 
due  credit. 


Chapter  IX:   Relations  with  England  and 
Other  Phases  of  Culture. 


THE  close  and  sympathetic  interest  between  the 
colonists  and  the  government  of  England,  as  de- 
scribed in  Chapter  III,  naturally  came  to  an  end 
at  the  Restoration.  In  its  place  a  mutual  suspicion  devel- 
oped, fostered  on  the  one  side  by  the  colonists'  disloyal 
protection  of  the  Regicides,  and  on  the  other  by  the  loss  of 
colonial  independence  and  the  fear  of  possible  religious  coer- 
cion. At  the  same  time  a  generation  was  growing  up  which 
knew  not  England;  in  fact  it  was  almost  a  second  genera- 
tion from  England,  since  in  many  cases  the  parents  had  left 
England  when  mere  children.  Those  who  had  grown  to 
maturity  in  England  and  had  personal  friends  there  were 
passing  away;  the  death  of  John  Winthrop,  Jr.,  in  1676 
broke  one  of  the  chief  links  that  kept  the  best  of  the  new 
world  in  touch  with  the  best  of  the  old.  Social  intercourse 
between  New  England  and  Old  England  seems  to  have 
reached,  during  the  last  quarter  of  the  century,  a  lower  ebb 
than  at  any  time  before  or  since. 

It  would  be  a  mistake,  however,  to  think  of  the  colonies 
as  isolated  from  the  outside  world  even  during  this  period. 
As  has  been  shown  in  Chapter  VII,  the  gifts  of  friends  in 
England  and  the  establishment  of  several  booksellers  made 
it  possible  for  both  the  college  and  the  colony  to  keep  in 
touch  with  current  thought.  Settlers  continued  to  come,  too, 
even  if  in  smaller  groups  than  during  the  first  period;  and 
among  them  were  occasionally  men  of  high  scholastic  at- 
tainments, such  as  Samuel  Lee,^  who  settled  in  Bristol,  and 
Charles  Morton-,  who  settled  in  Charlestown.    Occasionally, 

'  See  p.  127,  above. 
'  See  p.  100,  above. 


Other  Phases  of  Cuhure.  i  53 

too,  young  colonists  went  back  to  England  to  try  their 
fortunes  there,  and  not  without  success,  as,  for  example, 
three  sons  of  the  Reverend  John  Higginson,  of  Salem. 
Thomas  Higginson  became  a  goldsmith  in  England;  Francis 
went  to  live  with  his  uncle  Francis  in  England'  and  was 
educated  at  the  University  of  Cambridge;  and  Nathaniel 
was  first  steward  of  Lord  Wharton,  and  later  went  to  the 
East  Indies,  where  he  succeeded  Elihu  Yale  as  Governor  of 
Madras,  and,  like  him,  grew  rich.'*  His  letters,  both  from 
India  and  from  England  after  his  return,^  show  that  he  was 
interested  in  New  England  and  had  tentative  plans  for  re- 
turning thither,  as  his  father  so  earnestly  urged  him  to  do; 
but  he  never  came.  The  Reverend  Warham  Mather  had 
thoughts  of  going  to  England,  for  he  wrote  to  his  uncle, 
Increase  Mather,  then  in  London,  as  follows: 

S"",  we  expect  not  your  return  before  winter.  It  will  be  profita- 
ble for  me  to  know  what  advice  you  think  it  will  be  best  for  me  to 
follow,  relating  to  a  remove  for  England,  before  that  time,  for  it  is 
not  likely  I  should  sell  what  estate  I  have  here  for  the  worth 
thereof  at  short  warning.^ 

He  did  not  go,  however. 

New  Englanders  continued  to  visit  England  for  both 
business  and  pleasure.  Increase  Mather  went  twice  as  agent 
of  Massachusetts.  Of  his  second  trip  a  modern  historian 
writes: 

During  Andros's  administration  some  of  the  prominent  men  of 
the  colony,  dissatisfied  with  the  curtailment  of  their  former  privi- 
leges, determined  to  appeal  to  England  for  relief.  Increase 
Mather,  the  influential  pastor  of  the  Old  North  Church,  was  se- 
lected to  bear  to  the  king,  James  II.,  the  complaints  of  the  colony, 

3  See  p.  65,  above. 

<  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Collections,  3rd  Series,  vii.  196;  F.  B. 
Dexter,  Publications  of  the  New  Haven  Historical  Society,  iii.  238. 

5  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Collections,  3rd  Series,  vii.  198  ff.  The 
eagerness  with  which  his  father  urged  him  not  to  forget  his  native  place  is  quite 
pathetic. 

*  Mather  Papers,  p.  671.     July  6,  1688. 


154     Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

and  to  obtain,  if  possible,  a  restoration  of  the  charter.  He  was 
admirably  adapted  to  the  task,  having  served  as  agent  in  Eng- 
land only  a  few  years  before,  while  his  pleasing  address  and 
familiarity  with  the  men  and  ways  of  the  court  at  Whitehall  were 
certain  to  stand  him  in  good  stead  in  the  work  to  be  done.' 

It  is  worth  noting  that  on  this  errand  he  was  well  received 
by  the  courts  both  of  James  II  and  of  William  and  Mary. 

In  1688  Samuel  Sewall,  accompanied  by  his  brother 
Stephen  and  two  others,  went  to  England  on  a  trip  which 
combined  the  pleasure  of  a  visit  to  his  birthplace  in  England 
with  considerable  buying  of  commodities,  presumably  upon 
commission. 

Joseph  Dudley  went  to  England  in  1682  as  an  agent  of 
Massachusetts.^  In  1693  he  again  went  to  England  and  there 
resided  for  nine  years,  taking  an  active  part  in  English 
affairs,  even  serving  in  Parliament.^  Another  who  spent 
several  years  in  England  was  Benjamin  Colman,  who  went 
to  London  in  1695.  He  was  well  received  by  the  Dissenting 
clergy  there,  once  being  sent  by  a  committee  of  them  to 
preach  at  Cambridge,  and  later,  after  preaching  at  Ipswich, 
being  chosen  by  the  London  Presbytery  to  take  an  important 
church  at  Bath,  where  he  remained  two  years.  He  left  only 
to  accept  a  call  to  a  new  church  in  Boston.^" 

Benjamin  Lynde,  Harvard  1686,  went  to  London  to  study 
for  the  bar  at  the  Middle  Temple.  His  wife  accompanied 
him  either  at  that  time  or  on  some  later  trip,  for  her  portrait 
was  painted  in  England  by  Sir  Godfrey  Kneller." 

During  this  period  there  is  practically  no  evidence  of  any 
intercourse  or  friendship  between  any  one  in  New  England 
and  the  literary  men  of  England,  if  such  writers  of  religious 
literature   as   Richard   Baxter   be   excluded."     Anthony   a 

1  C.  M.  Andrews,  Narratives  of  the  Insurrections,  p.  271. 
*  Kimball,  Public  Life  of  Joseph  Dudley,  p.  13. 
9  Ibid.  pp.  65,  208. 
"  Turell,  Life  of  Colman,  passim. 

"  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Proceedings,  ist  Series,  xvi.  396. 
"  See  p.  134,  above,  for  details  of  Baxter's  gift  to  Harvard. 


Other  Phases  of  Culture.  155 

Wood  turned  to  Increase  Mather,  when  the  latter  was  in 
London,  for  information  in  regard  to  the  Oxford  graduates 
who  had  emigrated  to  New  England;'^  but  the  "x'\thenae 
Oxoniensis"  can  hardly  be  classed  as  pure  literature. 

In  spite  of  all  this  lessening  of  intercourse,  the  colonists 
continued  to  feel  a  keen  interest  in  England  and  conditions 
there,  as  their  constant  eagerness  for  gazettes  and  news- 
letters shows ;'^  and  this  sometimes  found  definite  expres- 
sion, as  in  the  following  passage  from  John  Higginson's 
"Attestation"  to  the  "Magnalia." 

That  the  little  daughter  of  New-England  in  America,  may  bow 
down  herself  to  her  mother  England,  in  Europe,  presenting  this 
memorial  unto  her;  assuring  her,  that  though  by  some  of  her 
angry  brethren  she  was  forced  to  make  a  local  secession,  yet  not  a 
separation,  but  hath  always  retained  a  dutiful  respect  to  the 
Church  of  God  in  England;  and  giving  some  account  to  her,  how 
graciously  the  Lord  has  dealt  with  herself  in  a  remote  wilderness, 
and  what  she  has  been  doing  all  this  while;  giving  her  thanks  for 
all  the  supplies  she  has  received  from  her;  and  because  she  is 
yet  in  her  minority,  she  craves  her  farther  blessing  a.nd  favour  as 
the  case  may  require;  being  glad  if  what  is  now  presented  to  her, 
may  be  of  any  use,  to  help  forward  the  union  and  agreetnent  of  her 
brethren,  which  would  be  some  satisfaction  to  her  for  her  unde- 
sired  local  distance  from  her  dear  England;  and  finally  promising 
all  that  reverence  and  obedience  which  is  due  to  her  good  mother, 
by  virtue  of  th.t  fifth  commandment.'^ 

If  the  colonists  did  not  go  to  England  as  much  as  at  an 
earlier  period,  certain  elements  of  English  life,  formerly  ab- 
sent, were  introduced,  especially  under  Governor  Andros. 
A  dancing-master  set  up  in  Boston,'^  and  a  fencing  master 

'3  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Collections,  2d  Series,  vii.  187. 

'■•  See  pp.  222  and  223,  above. 

'5  Magnalia,  i.  16.     Dated  1697. 

'*  Wendell,  Cotton  Mather,  p.  44.  The  first  dancing  master  of  whom  there  is 
record  was  one  Henry  Sharlot  or  Sherlot,  who  is  described  both  as  Irish  and  as 
French.  On  September  6,  168 1,  the  Court  of  Assistants  decided  that  "Henry  Sher- 
lot a  frenchman,  that  is  newly  come  into  this  Towne  as  he  sajth,  a  Dancing  master 
and  a  person  very  Insolent  and  of  ill  fame,  that  Raves  and  scoffes  at  Religion 


156      Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

as  well. '7  Public  fencing  bouts  were  held,  and  a  maypole 
was  erected.'*  Just  previous  to  this  John  Dunton  and  other 
booksellers  had  brought  over  plays  and  romances  and  play- 
ing cards.''  In  connection  with  the  latter  the  following 
passage  in  Sewall's  "Diary"  is  of  interest. 

Wednesday,  June  21  [1699].  A  Pack  of  Cards  are  found 
strawed  over  my  fore-yard,  which,  tis  suposed,  some  might  throw 
there  to  mock  me,  in  spite  of  [for]  what  I  did  at  the  Exchange 
Taverrr  last  Satterday  night." 

Boston  was  losing  its  former  character  of  a  city  devoted 
to  religion,  and  was  becoming  a  worldly  commercial  seaport. 
This  was  felt  strongly  by  the  critical  Dutch  traveler,  Jasper 
Danckaerts,  who  wrote  of  Boston  in  1680: 

Nevertheless  you  discover  little  difference  between  this  and 
other  places.  Drinking  and  fighting  occur  there  not  less  than 
elsewhere;  and  as  to  truth  and  true  godliness,  you  must  not 
expect  more  of  them  than  of  others.  When  we  were  there,  four 
ministers'  sons  were  learning  the  silversmith's  trade." 

.  .  ."be  ordered  away.  It  is  unfortunately  not  clear  whether  his  personality 
or  his  profession  was  chiefly  responsible  for  the  Court's  action.  (Massachusetts 
Historical  Society,  Proceedings,  xlix.  99  fF.)  His  successors  had  better  fortune. 
To  meet  this  new  evil,  Increase  Mather  considered  it  necessary  to  prepare  "An 
Arrow  against  Profane  and  Promiscuous  Dancing.  Drawn  out  of  the  Quiver  of 
the  Scriptures,"  published  in  1684  by  Joseph  Brunning.  (Sibley,  Harvard  Gradu- 
ates, i.  445.) 

'7  The  Council  granted,  September  15,  1686,  the  following  petition:  "The  hum- 
ble petition  of  Richard  Crisp,  humbly  sheweth.  That  whereas  there  are  several 
gentlemen  in  this  town,  that  are  desirous  your  petitioner  should  instruct  them  in 
the  use  of  weapons,  and  whereas  there  is  a  law,  that  forbiddeth  the  building  of  any 
edifice  with  wood,  above  such  a  bigness  as  the  said  law  permits,  I  humbly  pray 
.  .  .  liberty  to  build  a  low,  slight  house  for  that  purpose  ..."  (Massachusetts 
Historical  Society,  Collections,  3rd  Series,  vii.  157.) 

'*  Increase  Mather  recorded  in  his  diary  in  1687:  (April  27.)  "Sword  playing 
was  this  day  openly  practised  on  a  Stage  in  Boston  &  that  immediately  after  y^ 
Lecture,  so  y'  the  Devil  has  begun  a  Lecture  in  Boston  on  a  Lecture-Day  wh  was 
set  up  for  Christ  ..."  (May  i.)  "A  May  pole  was  set  up  in  Charlestown."  (Mas- 
sachusetts Historical  Society,  Proceedings,  2d  Series,  xiii.  411.) 

"  See  p.  120  ff.,  above. 

^''  Diary,  i.  498.  Unfortunately  there  is  no  further  report  of  the  affair  at  the 
Exchange  Tavern. 

"  Journal  of  Jasper  Danckaerts,  pp.  274,  275. 


Other  Phases  of  Culture.  157 

In  connection  with  Danckaerts'  last  remarlc  it  must  be 
remembered  that  there  were  nearly  a  score  of  silversmiths 
working  at  their  craft  in  Boston  before  the  end  of  the 
century.  Many  of  the  things  which  they  wrought  were 
necessary  articles;  but  the  rapid  growth  in  their  numbers 
toward  the  end  of  this  period,  as  well  as  examples  of  their 
work  which  have  been  preserved,  indicates  that  Boston 
afforded  a  good  market  for  luxuries."  That  four  ministers' 
sons  at  once  were  turning  to  this  lucrative  work  instead  of 
preparing  to  follow  in  the  footsteps  of  their  fathers  shows 
the  tendency  of  the  time. 

The  wealthy  men  of  the  first  period  had  been  those  who 
brought  fortunes  with  them.  In  the  second  period  we  find 
men  who  had  made  their  own  fortunes  in  the  new  land, 
such  men  as  John  Hull,  silversmith  and  mint-master,  whose 
wealth  is  a  tradition  with  us.^^  Hezekiah  Usher,  bookseller, 
dying  in  1676,  left  a  fortune  of  over  £15,000  for  his  two 
sons  to  quarrel  over.^t  John  Dunton  speaks  of  the  wealth 
acquired  by  John  Usher's  who  succeeded  his  father.  Wait 
Winthrop  in  Boston  and  Fitz-John  Winthrop  at  New  Lon- 
don were  living  in  a  style  resembling  that  of  the  landed 
gentry  of  England,  whom  they  were  planning  to  imitate  in 
the  establishing  of  an  estate  practically  in  entail.'*  Even 
in  Plymouth  there  was  an  increase  in  wealth,  according  to 

"  Bigelow's  "Historic  Silver  of  the  Colonies  and  its  Makers"  gives  interesting  de- 
tails of  the  lives  of  these  silversmiths  and  contains  illustrations  showing  the  beauty 
of  their  work.  His  record  is  not  complete,  however,  for  he  does  not  mention  the 
Dutch  silversmith,  Willem  Ros,  from  Wesel,  whom  Jasper  Danckaerts  found 
carrying  on  his  trade  in  Boston  in  1680.     (Journal  of  Jasper  Danckaerts,  p.  260.) 

'3  There  seems  to  be  no  satisfactory  estimate  of  his  wealth,  but  he  was  unques- 
tionably wealthy  for  his  day.  His  gift  to  his  daughter  upon  her  marriage  to  Samuel 
Sewall  is  estimated  at  £500  ($10,000  in  modern  equivalent).     (Hull's  Diary,  p.  275.) 

=4  See  pp.  79  and  114,  above. 

^5  See  p.  1 1 4,  above. 

^^  John  Winthrop,  F.  R.  S.,  won  his  suit  against  the  other  heirs  of  his  uncle, 
Fitz-John,  and  his  father.  Wait,  by  showing  that  the  two  brothers  had  planned  to 
leave  their  vast  holdings  of  land  to  a  single  heir  that  they  might  be  handed  down 
intact  from  generation  to  generation,  and  not  to  be  broken  up  and  soon  dissipated 
by  division  among  group  after  group  of  heirs.     (Winthrop  Papers,  vi.  passim.) 


158      Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

Governor  Josiah  Winslow's  statement  that  "most  men  there 
are  freeholders,  few  tenants;  incomes  of  2000/.  are  rare 
among  them."^^  They  may  have  been  few,  but  the  interest- 
ing thing  is  that  there  were  any.  Twenty-five  years  earlier 
estates  totahng  one-quarter  of  that  sum  were  unknown. ^'^ 
Comprehensive  lists  of  men  of  wealth  and  their  estates  seem 
unnecessary  here,  for  the  very  fact  that  so  many  booksellers 
and  silversmiths  set  up  shop  in  Boston'^  js  in  itself  evidence 
that  there  was  a  considerable  public  which  could  afford  the 
luxuries  of  books  and  silver  plate.  Even  portrait  painters 
were  beginning  to  cater  to  the  vanity  of  the  colonists.  Before 
1667  the  Reverend  John  Wilson  refused  to  have  his  portrait 
painted  for  his  friends,  although  Edward  Rawson  brought 
to  him  a  "limner,  with  all  things  ready. "3°  Portraits  of 
Henry  and  Margaret  Gibbs  bearing  the  date  of  1670  are 
still  in  existence.^'  In  1679  °^  1680  Increase  Mather  sat  for 
a  portrait  which  he  sent  to  his  brother  Nathaniel,  of  Dublin. ^^ 
In  1684  Joseph  Allen  came  from  Dublin  bearing  letters  from 
Nathaniel  to  Increase  Mather  in  which  he  was  described  as 
skilled  in  "graving"  and  "limning."^^  Wait  Winthrop 
wrote  in  1691  of  a  man  who  could  copy  miniatures.^''  Evi- 
dently as  far  as  Boston  and  the  older  settlements  were  con- 
cerned, the  pioneer  days  of  hardship  were  over. 

"  Calendar  of  State  Papers,  Colonial  Series,  America  and  West  Indies,  1677- 
1680,  p.  522,  no.  1349. 
^  See  pp.  28  and  29,  above. 
*»  See  pp.  114-117  and  157,  above. 
30  Magnalia,  i.  320. 
3'  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Proceedings,  ist  Series,  x.  41  ff. 

32  Mather  Papers,  p.  28. 

33  Ibid.,  p.  52. 

34  Winthrop  Papers,  iv.  500.  Under  date  of  October  31  he  wrote  to  Fitz-John 
Winthrop,  "If  you  could  by  a  very  carefuU  hand,  send  the  litle  picture  of  my 
grandfather,  put  carefully  up  in  som  litle  box,  here  is  one  would  copy  it  for  my 
cousin  Adam   ..." 


chapter  X:  The  Production  of  Literature. 


AS  the  previous  chapters  have  shown,  New  England 
grew  provincial  after  the  middle  of  the  century, 
k^and  especially  after  the  Restoration.  This  is 
shown  most  strikingly  in  the  literature  produced  during 
this  period.  Literary  movements  in  England  had  practi- 
cally no  influence  across  the  sea.  Of  course  the  most  im- 
portant element  in  the  English  literature  of  the  time,  the 
dramatic,  because  of  its  very  nature,  could  in  no  way 
stimulate  literary  activity  where  the  drama  was  tabooed. 
Furthermore,  most  non-dramatic  literature  was  written  by 
Tories  and  Royalists,  many  of  them  courtiers,  in  whose 
writings  New  England  Puritans  could  take  little  interest. 
It  is  not  so  easy  to  explain  why  Milton  aroused  no  echo  in 
New  England;  but  it  is  evident  to  any  student  of  the 
period  that  the  chief  writer  of  Boston,  Cotton  Mather,  al- 
though he  evidently  knew  "Paradise  Lost"  well,^  made  no 
attempt  to  imitate  the  grandeur  of  its  style,  preferring  the 
elaborate  conceits  and  puns  characteristic  of  the  style  which 
the  earliest  settlers  brought  over  with  them.  In  England 
there  had  been  great  changes;  in  New  England  the  literary 
style,  like  the  language,  tended  to  remain  fixed.  The  leaders 
of  thought  in  Boston  were  generally  as  conservative  in  their 
writing  as  in  their  religious  thinking,  looking  to  the  past 
rather  than  to  the  present  or  the  future. 

Where  the  influence  of  the  earlier  colonial  verse-writers 
is  not  evident,  as  in  Peter  Folger's  "A  Looking-Glass  for  the 
Times,"  in  some  of  Benjamin  Tompson's  poems,  and  else- 
where, as  in  some  of  the  poetry  of  the  almanacs,  the  style 
seems  either  original,  or  else  derived  from  ballads  or  hymns, 
the  metres  especially  resembling  those  of  the  ballad  or  short 

'  See  p.  1 43  ff.,  above. 


1 60      Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

or  common  metre  hymn.  There  is  absolutely  no  suggestion 
of  contemporary  English  poetry  of  the  better  kind  here. 

Very  much  the  same  thing  is  true  of  the  prose  of  the  period. 
The  style  of  Cotton  Mather  in  the  "MagnaHa,"  written  in 
the  last  decade  of  the  seventeenth  century,  resembles,  as 
does  his  father's  style,  the  prose  writings  of  such  English- 
men as  Robert  Burton  and  Thomas  Fuller,  who  belong  to 
the  earlier  part  of  the  century.^ 

It  is  necessary  to  distinguish  here  between  literary  influ- 
ences and  influences  of  a  political  or  even  intellectual  nature. 
Unresponsive  as  the  people  of  New  England  were  to  literary 
movements,  they  were  in  close  touch  not  only  with  English 
politics,  but  with  certain  philosophical  movements.  Their 
interest  in  politics  was  natural,  as  they  were  personally 
affected  by  what  happened  in  London.  Their  familiarity 
with  the  scientific  movement  of  the  time  has  been  noted. ^ 
Their  reaction  to  the  writings  of  the  Cambridge  Platonists 
is  more  striking.  The  attempts  of  such  writers  as  Joseph 
Glanvil  and  Henry  More  to  prove  the  reality  of  the  spiritual 
world  culminated  in  "Sadducismus  Triumphatus,"  begun  by 
Glanvil  and  finished  by  More  in  1681.  Three  years  later 
Increase  Mather  published  his  "Remarkable  Providences"  as 
a  contribution  to  the  growing  body  of  material  which  sought 
to  support  the  teachings  of  Glanvil  and  More.  Within  ten 
years  New  England  had  reacted  to  the  belief  in  demons  in 

'  Cotton  Mather's  love  of  quoting  Latin  and  Greek,  and  even  Hebrew,  is  a  relic 
of  the  tendency  which  led  Lord  Coke,  who  died  in  1633,  to  illustrate  the  knotty- 
points  and  subtle  distinctions  of  the  law  with  300  extracts  from  Virgil— and  then 
boast  of  his  achievement.  (Mullinger,  Cambridge  in  the  Seventeenth  Century, 
p.  64,  note.)  Before  Cotton  Mather  was  born,  Samuel  Butler  had  ridiculed  this 
style  of  writing,  calling  it  (Hudibras,  Canto  I,  93-98) 

A  Babylonish  dialect, 

Which  learned  pedants  much  affect: 

It  was  a  parti-colour  d  dress 

Of  patch  d  and  piebald  languages; 

'twas  English  cut  on  Greek  and  Latin, 

Like  fustian  heretofore  on  satin. 

3  See  above,  pp.  107  ff.  and  142-3. 


The  Production  of  Literature.  1 6  i 

an  even  more  striking  way,  by  the  persecution  of  witches, 
especially  at  Salem.  Witch-hunting  did  not  begin  in  the 
colonies  at  that  time,  but  the  extent  and  violence  of  the 
Salem  persecutions  in  contrast  with  the  sporadic  witchcraft 
cases  in  New  England  previous  to  1680  would  seem  to  be  the 
result  of  a  direct  reaction  to  the  Cambridge  philosophers. 
The  fact  that  Deodat  Lawson,  whose  lecture  at  Salem  Vil- 
lage, March  24,  1692,  marked  the  beginning  of  the  worst 
persecutions,  had  studied  at  Cambridge  gave  weight  to  his 
words  and  was  largely  responsible  for  the  severity  of  the 
frenzy. 

The  provincialism  of  the  period  is  nowhere  better  shown 
than  in  the  growing  preponderance  of  sermons  in  the  publi- 
cations of  the  local  presses.  In  the  eight  years  including 
1682  and  1689,  °^  ^^^  ^33  books  pubhshed  in  Boston,  56  were 
sermons,  39  more  were  of  a  religious  nature,  and  of  the  re- 
maining 38,  12  were  almanacs,  and  17  were  proclamations 
or  political  pamphlets  arising  from  the  revolt  against  Andros 
in  1689.'*  The  lowest  ebb  of  American  literature  was  reached 
at  this  time;  the  only  poetical  items  are  Cotton  Mather's 
"A  Poem  Dedicated  to  the  Memory  of  ...  .  Mr.  Urian 
Oakes"  and  "An  Elegy  on  .  .  .  .  Rev.  Mr.  Nathanael 
Collins,"  Richard  Steere's  "A  Monumental  Memorial  of 
Marine  Mercy,"  and  reprints  of  Wigglesworth's  "Meat  out 
of  the  Eater"  and  "The  Day  of  Doom." 

The  dearth  of  literature  is  not  relieved  to  any  great  extent, 
as  in  the  first  period,  by  publications  abroad.  Some  colonial 
writings  were  published  in  England,  but  most  of  these,  as 
Increase  Mather's  accounts  of  the  Indian  wars,  were  re- 
prints of  books  already  printed  in  New  England.  One  book, 
and  that  undoubtedly  the  most  important  book  of  the 
period,^  Cotton  Mather's  "MagnaliaChristi  Americana,"  was 
considered  by  its  author  sufficiently  important  to  be  sent 

*  These  figures  are  compiled  from  Evans'  American  Bibliography,  and  include 
books  printed  in  Cambridge. 

s  Although  not  published  until  1702,  it  was  written  about  1697. 


1 62      Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

to  England  for  its  original  publication;  but  this  is  rather 
the  exception. 

Some  poetry  of  the  period  escaped  publication  at  the 
time,  and  should  be  added  in  estimating  the  amount  of  lit- 
erature produced;  but  this  is  much  less  in  quantity  than 
in  the  earlier  period.  Edward  Taylor  of  Westfield  filled  a 
notebook  with  verse,  none  of  which  has  ever  been  published, 
as  the  writer  forbade  publication.  Many  elegies,  such  as 
those  preserved  in  Blake's  "Annals  of  Dorchester"  and  others 
passed  on  from  generation  to  generation  in  family  records, 
waited  until  later  times  for  their  appearance  in  public.  But 
even  these  are  not  sufficient  either  in  amount  or  in  merit  to 
bring  the  production  of  this  period  to  the  level  of  either  the 
earlier  or  the  later  periods. 

All  this  does  not  mean  that  there  were  no  writings  of  lit- 
erary value  during  these  years,  for  that  would  not  be  true. 
The  most  interesting  and  important  of  the  writings  of  the 
two  Mathers  belong  to  this  period:  "Remarkable  Provi- 
dences," "The  Wonders  of  the  Invisible  World,"  and  the 
"Magnalia  Christi  Americana."  To  these  must  be  added  the 
four  clever  political  fables  which  Cotton  Mather  wrote  in 
defence  of  his  father's  activities  as  agent  of  the  Colony.^ 
Robert  Calef's  "More  Wonders  of  the  Invisible  World" 
also  deserves  mention  here  for  its  rationality,  which  gives 
it,  in  contrast  with  the  Mather  witchbooks,  a  surprisingly 
modern  tone.  Another  modern  seeming  book  is  Sewall's 
anti-slavery  pamphlet,  "The  Selling  of  Joseph." 

The  poetry  of  the  period  was  inferior  to  the  prose;  there 
was,  however,  some  verse  with  poetic  merit.  One  example 
of  a  poem  which  is  at  least  natural,  and  not  without  humor, 
has  been  printed  in  part  on  page  91,  Samuel  Bailey's  "The 
College  Ferula."  Of  the  conceits  which  marred  much  of  the 
colonial  poetry  perhaps  the  most  effective  and  fitting  is  the 
one  used  by  Joseph  Capen  at  the  end  of  his  elegy  upon 
John  Foster,  printer  and  almanac  maker: 

'  Printed  in  the  Prince  Society  Andros  Tracts,  ii.  325  ff. 


The  Production  of  Literature.  163 

Thy  Body  which  no  activeness  did  lack 

Now's  laid  aside  like  an  old  Almanack 

But  for  the  present  only's  out  of  date; 

Twil  have  at  length  a  far  more  active  State. 

Yea,  though  with  dust  thy  body  Soiled  be, 

Yet  at  the  Resurrection  we  Shall  See 

A  fair  Edition  &  of  matchless  worth, 

Free  from  Errata,  new  in  Heav'n  Set  forth: 

Tis  but  a  word  from  God  the  great  Creatour, 

It  Shall  be  Done  when  he  Saith  IMPRIMATUR.^ 

The  concluding  stanzas  of  Urian  Oakes'  lament  for 
Thomas  Shepard  are  worth  quoting,  although  the  greater 
part  of  this  elegy  exhibits  the  usual  faults  of  New  England 
poetry. 

In  vain  we  build  the  prophets'  sepulchers. 

In  vain  bedew  their  tombs  with  tears,  when  dead; 

7  "It  has  been  thought,"  writes  Samuel  A.  Green,  in  his  study  of  John  Foster 
(page  35),  "that  the  closing  lines  of  Capen's  Elegy  suggested  to  Franklin  the 
quaint  epitaph  which  he  wrote  for  himself."  The  parallel  is  so  interesting  that  the 
epitaph  is  given  here  for  comparison: 

The  body  of  Benjamin  Franklin,  printer,  {like  the  cover  of  an  old  book,  its 
contents  torn  out,  and  stript  of  its  lettering  and  gilding)  lies  here  food  for 
worms;  yet  the  work  itself  shall  not  be  lost,  for  it  will  {as  he  believed)  ap- 
pear once  more  in  a  new  and  more  beautiful  edition,  corrected  and  amended 
by  the  author. 
The  parallel   becomes  more  interesting  when  we  carry  it  back  a  generation   to 
Benjamin  Woodbridge's  elegy  upon  John  Cotton,  who  died  in  1652.    Presumably 
the  elegy  was  written  soon  after  that  date. 

A  living,  breathing  Bible;  tables  where 
Both  covenants,  at  large,  engraven  were; 
Gospel  and  law,  in's  heart,  had  each  its  column; 
His  head  an  index  to  the  sacred  volume; 
His  very  name  a  title-page;  and  next. 
His  life  a  commentary  on  the  text- 
0,  what  a  monument  of  glorious  worth. 
When,  in  a  new  edition,  he  comes  forth, 
Without  erratas,  may  we  think  he'll  be 
In  leaves  and  covers  of  eternity! 

It  would  be  remarkable  if  Woodbridge's  figure  of  speech  should  have  recurred 
twice  unconsciously;  if  it  was  used  consciously,  it  forms  a  curious  link  between 
the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries  in  American  literature. 


1 64      Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

In  vain  bewail  the  deaths  of  ministers, 
Whilest  prophet-killing  sins  are  harboured. 

Those  that  these  murtherous  traitors  favour,  hide; 

Are  with  the  blood  of  Prophets  deeply  dy'd. 

New-England!  know  thy  heart-plague:  feel  this  blow; 

A  blow  that  sorely  wounds  both  head  and  heart, 

A  blow  that  reaches  all,  both  high  and  low, 

A  blow  that  may  be  felt  in  every  part. 

Mourn  that  this  great  man's  fain  in  Israel: 
Let  it  be  said,  "with  him  New-England  fell!" 

Farewell,  dear  Shepard!     Thou  art  gone  before. 

Made  free  of  Heaven,  where  thou  shalt  sing  loud  hymns 

Of  high  triumphant  praises  ever  more. 

In  the  sweet  quire  of  saints  and  seraphims. 

Lord!  look  on  us  here,  clogg'd  with  sin  and  clay. 
And  we,  through  grace,  shall  be  as  happy  as  they. 

My  dearest,  inmost,  bosome-friend  is  gone! 
Gone  is  my  sweet  companion,  soul's  delight! 
Now  in  an  hud'ling  croud  I'm  all  alone, 
x'^nd  almost  could  bid  all  the  world  "Goodnight." 

Blest  be  my  Rock!     God  lives:  O  let  him  be. 

As  He  is  All,  so  All  in  All  to  me! 

Whereas  literary  production  during  the  first  period  of 
colonial  life  was  in  keeping  with  the  culture  of  the  people, 
during  the  second  period  literature  lagged  behind  culture. 
The  chief  reason  for  this,  provincialism,  has  already  been 
discussed.  While  the  culture,  although  not  as  low  as  it  has 
often  been  pictured,  had  grown  somewhat  provincial,  the 
literature  had  become  entirely  divorced  from  English  literary 
movements.  The  colonists  did  have  London  books;  but 
their  ears  could  not  catch  the  note  of  the  literary  activity 
which  centered  in  London.  There  were  other  reasons  for 
this  than  the  width  of  the  Atlantic.  The  Restoration  had 
in  time  brought  about  the  loss  of  charter  and  privileges; 
and   thus   began   that  long  struggle   between   colonist   and 


The  Production  of  Literature.  165 

crown  which  was  to  monopolize  the  interest  and  energy  of 
the  people  of  New  England  for  over  a  century.  Cotton 
Mather  was  eager  to  peruse  any  books  which  his  father 
might  bring  from  England;  but  he  was  vastly  more  inter- 
ested in  the  charter  which  his  father  might  bring  back  for 
the  colony  and  indirectly  for  the  college.  Whether  the 
ministerial  party  headed  by  himself  and  his  father  would  be 
able  to  control  the  colony;  whether  the  orthodox  element 
in  New  England  could  continue  to  guide  the  college; — these 
matters  were  vastly  more  important  than  the  fact  that  a 
new  period  in  English  literature  was  developing.  Even  if 
this  had  not  been  the  case,  the  tremendously  busy  life 
which  Cotton  Mather  led  was  enough  to  make  careful  literary 
work  impossible.    As  Barrett  Wendell  writes, 

Until  one  actually  inspects  the  documents,  it  seems  incredible 
that  in  forty-five  years  any  single  human  being  could  have  penned 
so  many  words  as  we  thus  see  to  have  come  from  the  hand  of  one 
of  the  busiest  ministers,  one  of  the  most  insatiable  scholars  and 
readers,  and  one  of  the  most  active  politicians  whom  America  has 
ever  known.* 

Cotton  Mather  himself  referred  to  the  difficulties  of  lit- 
erary work  in  the  face  of  his  other  activities: 

.  .  .  .  I  have  been  forced  ....  to  throw  by  the  work  [the 
"Magnalia"]  whole  months  together,  and  then  resume  it,  but  by  a 
stolen  hour  or  two  in  the  day,  not  without  some  hazard  of  incur- 
ring the  title  which  Coryat  put  upon  his  History  of  his  Travels, 
'^Crudities  hastily  gobbled  up  in  five  months y"^ 

If  I  could  redeem  the  Time,  now  and  then  to  dress  up  sublime 
Thoughts  in  an  agreeable  Metre,  I  might  in  Time,  have  a  Col- 
lection, which  may  prove  a  profitable  and  an  acceptable  Enter- 
tainment, unto  the  Church  of  God." 

Two  extracts  from  his  diary  show  his  hasty  manner  of 
writing. 

*  Literary  History  of  America,  p.  47. 
»Magnalia,  i.  32. 
"  Diary,  ii.  335. 


1 66      Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

The  Printer,  wanting  something  to  fill  the  last  Leaf  of  his  Al- 
manack, for  the  year,  1699,  came  unto  mee,  to  furnish  him 

I  took  my  Opportunity,  and  wrote  a  few  pungent  Lines,  concern- 
ing the  Changes,  which  may  bee  coming  as  a  Snare  upon  the 
Earth.    .    .    ." 

There  is  printing  a  new  Edition  of  our  Psalm-book.  In  every 
former  Edition,  that  excellent  Portion  of  Scripture,  the  36TH 
Chapter  of  isaiah,  was  in  such  a  metre,  that  few  of  our  Churches 
could  sing  it.  Wherefore  I  this  day,  took  a  few  Minutes,  to  turn 
it  into  another  Metre,  with  perhaps,  a  smoother  and  sweeter 
Version.     So  tis  published  in  the  Psalm  book;  .   .  .  '^ 

As,  in  spite  of  the  unfavorable  circumstances  under  which 
they  were  composed,  Cotton  Mather's  productions  taken 
all  in  all  are  not  without  literary  merit,  it  is  interesting  to 
surmise  what  he  might  have  done  in  literature  had  he  not 
been  so  distracted  by  other  things,  including  the  constant 
abuse  of  his  health  by  vigils  and  fasts. ^^  The  one  man  in 
New  England  who  had  the  greatest  familiarity  with  English 
literature,  whose  mind  was  a  veritable  storehouse  of  learning 
of  every  kind,  never  gave  what  literary  ability  he  may  have 
had  an  opportunity  to  develop. 

What  is  true  of  Cotton  Mather  is  true  in  less  degree  of  all 
New  England.  Life  was  too  full  of  other  interests  to  allow 
much  energy  to  be  devoted  to  literary  work.  During  the 
seventies  the  colonists  were  carrying  on  a  bitter  war  with 
the  Indians,  a  war  which  cost  the  United  Colonies  over 
£100,000  and  many  lives.  During  the  eighties  public  interest 
was  absorbed  by  the  struggle  to  maintain  colonial  rights 
against  the  encroachments  of  Randolph  and  Andros.  In  the 
last  decade  of  the  century  began  the  struggle  between  the 
ministerial  party,  headed  by  the  Mathers,  and  the  more  lib- 
eral party  for  the  control  of  the  government  and  the  college. 

"Ibid.,  i.  276.     The  article  appeared  in  Tulley's  Almanack  for  1699. 

"  Ibid.,  i.  300. 

'3  Tyler,  in  his  History  of  American  Literature,  ii.  76,  says,  "  .  .  .it  was  com- 
puted that,  in  the  course  of  his  life,  the  number  of  his  special  fast-days  amounted 
to  four  hundred  and  fifty." 


The  Production  of  Literature.  167 

The  censorship  still  added  its  restraint  to  the  other  influ- 
ences which  retarded  literary  production.  According  to 
their  instructions,  provincial  governors  held  complete  con- 
trol of  the  press.  Before  Andros  came,  Randolph,  as  secre- 
tary of  the  province,  had  appointed  an  official  printer  and 
had  sent  the  following  notice  to  the  other  printers: 

I  am  comanded  by  M""  Secretary  Randolph,  to  give  you  notice 
that  you  doe  not  proceed  to  print  any  Almanack  whatever  without 
haveing  his  approbation  for  y*"  same. 

Yo"  Ben:  Bullivant 
Boston:     29  Novembr  1686.'^ 

Soon  after   the  installation  of   Governor  Andros  the  pro- 
ceedings of  his  Council  contained  this  entry: 

The  Councill  being  met  His  Ex^^  acquainted  them  that  it  was 
his  Maj''*"^  express  commands  that  the  printing  Presses  in  the 
Towns  of  Boston  and  Cambridge  in  New  England  should  be 
effectuall  [j'zV]  taken  care  of.  Upon  which  an  order  passed  in 
Councill,  that  no  Papers,  Bookes  Pamphlets  &c  should  be 
printed  in  New  England  untill  Licensed  according  to  Law.  .  .  's 

Andros'  loss  of  power  did  not  end  the  censorship,  for  the 
House  of  Representatives  in  November,  1689,  passed  orders 
to  control  the  press. ^'^  The  first  newspaper  in  America, 
Publick  Occurrences^  both  Foreign  and  Domesticky  was  sup- 
pressed immediately  upon  the  appearance  of  its  first  num- 
ber, unlicensed,  on  September  25,  1690.'^  In  1695  action 
was  brought  against  Thomas  Maule  of  Salem  for  circulating 
a  book  of  his  which  he  had  had  published  in  New  York.'^ 
He  was  acquitted  by  jury,  but  the  fact  that  action  was 
brought  against  him  shows  that  the  censorship  was  active. 

The  final  reason  for  the  low  estate  of  literature  during  this 
period  was  the  lack  of  any  sympathetic  support  by  either 
the  reading  public  or  any  literary  coterie.     Enough  litera- 

''•  Dunlway,  Freedom  of  the  Press  in  Massachusetts,  p.  64. 
'5  Ibid.,  p.  65. 
'6  Ibid.,  p.  67  flf. 


1 68      Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

ture  from  England  was  available  through  the  booksellers 
for  those  who  were  interested  in  literature,  and  from  the 
local  presses  only  books  of  purely  local  interest  were  ex- 
pected, such  as  contemporary  sermons,  almanacs,  and  po- 
litical pamphlets.  It  is  true  that  "Pilgrim's  Progress"  was 
reprinted  on  one  of  the  New  England  presses,'^  but  this  was 
exceptional  for  the  period,  and  is  counterbalanced  by  the 
fact  that  such  a  local  book  as  the  "New  England  Primer" 
seems  to  have  been  printed  first  in  England.^** 

Group  interest  in  literature  as  literature,  or  any  mutual 
encouragement  toward  the  production  of  literature,  is  not 
in  evidence  until  the  very  end  of  the  period.  The  influx 
of  books  through  the  many  booksellers  who  came  to  Boston 
after  1685^9  could  not  but  have  some  effect  upon  literary 
production  in  New  England;  but  results  are  not  evident 
until  the  very  end  of  the  period,  and  are  more  noticeable  in 
the  opening  years  of  the  eighteenth  century.  The  earliest 
indication  of  any  group  interest  in  literature  is  found  in  the 
literary  friendship  between  Samuel  Sewall  and  Richard 
Henchman,  schoolmaster,  which  probably  began  before  the 
year  1700,  the  first  evidence  of  it  being  given  in  Henchman's 
poem  to  Sewall  under  date  of  January  i,  1700-1.  There  is 
more  evidence  of  their  mutual  interest  in  poetry  during  the 
years  that  follow,  as  will  be  shown  in  Chapter  XIV. 

In  conclusion,  then,  it  may  be  said  that  although  this 
period  marks  the  nadir  of  American  literature,  at  the  end 
of  the  period,  thanks  to  the  activities  of  the  Boston  book- 
sellers and  to  renewed  intercourse  with  England,  there  was 
beginning  a  literary  movement  in  New  England  which  was 
to  develop  rapidly  in  the  opening  years  of  the  new  century. 

''  Bunyan's  prefatory  verses  to  the  second  part  of  Pilgrim's  Progress,  published 
in  1684,  refer  to  an  edition  of  the  first  part  printed  in  New  England.  This  was 
printed  in  1681  by  Samuel  Green  for  Samuel  Sewall.  A  copy  of  this  edition  is  in 
the  Boston  Public  Library. 

''  At  least  a  New  England  Primer  was  printed  in  England  by  John  Gaine  in 
1683.  As  all  copies  have  disappeared,  it  is  impossible  to  ascertain  to  what  extent 
it  resembled  the  New  England  Primer  printed  by  Benjamin  Harris  about  1690. 
(See  the  letter  by  Worthington  C.  Ford  in  The  Nation,  January  11,  1917,  p.  46.) 

•9  See  p.  1 16  fF,  above. 


Part  III: 
The  New  Century. 

1700-1727. 


chapter  XI:   Education. 


THE  new  century  brought  no  changes  into  the  edu- 
cational work  carried  on  at  Cambridge.  The 
growing  liberahty  of  the  Harvard  theology  caused 
certain  of  the  conservatives  in  the  colonies  to  become  dis- 
affected and  resulted  in  a  contest  for  the  control  of  the 
college  in  which  the  liberals  were  victorious;'  but  the  con- 
test, although  it  affected  the  political  life  of  the  community, 
seems  to  have  made  little  if  any  change  in  the  value  of  the 
instruction  given  to  the  students.  The  old  system  con- 
tinued under  the  same  men,  or  under  men  similarly  trained; 
and  it  was  not  until  the  end  of  the  period  under  considera- 
tion that  the  benefactions  of  Thomas  Hollis,  and  especially 
the  establishment  by  him  of  two  professorships,  one  of 
Divinity  and  one  of  Mathematics  and  Natural  Philosophy, 
gave  the  college  a  new  impetus.^ 

If,  during  these  years,  no  change  in  educational  methods 
took  place,  at  least  increased  opportunity  for  education  was 
offered  through  the  establishment  of  a  new  college  in  Con- 
necticut in  the  very  first  year  of  the  century.  The  "Col- 
legiate School"  at  Saybrook,  later  moved  to  New  Haven 
and  re-named  "Yale  College,"  was  modeled  after  Harvard, 
the  founders  and  teachers  being  Harvard  graduates.  The 
young  college  benefited  by  the  support  of  the  Mathers, 
Judge  Sewall,  and  others  who,  disliking  the  liberal  tenden- 
cies at  Harvard,  turned  to  the  younger  school  as  the  last 
refuge  of  New  England  orthodoxy.  They  enlisted  the  aid 
of  their  friends  in  England  with  such  success  that  Yale  soon 
had  a  fair  endowment  and  a  library  which,  if  not  as  large  as 

'  See  Quincy,  History  of  Harvard  University,  i.  chaps,  x-xiv. 

^  Ibid.  i.  The  first  gift  from  Hollis  arrived  in  1719.  The  Professorship  of  Divinity 
was  offered  in  1721,  and  the  Professorship  of  Mathematics  and  Natural  Philosophy 
in  1727. 


172      Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

Harvard's,  was  well  chosen  and  contained  a  larger  proportion 
of  current  literature.^ 

The  education  given  in  the  new  college  seems  to  have  been 
equivalent  to  that  at  Harvard.  The  graduates  were  fitted 
to  hold  high  positions  in  the  community,  and  two  members 
of  early  classes  were  honored  by  recognition  by  the  English 
Universities.  Samuel  Johnson,  of  the  class  of  1714,  was 
given  the  honorary  degree  of  Master  of  Arts  in  1723  by  both 
Cambridge  and  Oxford,  and  was  made  a  Doctor  of  Divinity 
by  the  latter  in  1743.''  Jonathan  Arnold,  of  the  class  of 
1723,  was  granted  the  honorary  Master's  degree  at  Oxford 
in  1736. 5 

Outside  of  the  formal  education  of  the  college  there  was 
a  growing  interest  in  science.  Thomas  and  William  Brattle, 
Cotton  Mather,  Paul  Dudley,  Thomas  Robie,  and  the 
younger  John  Winthrop  were  all  members  or  correspond- 
ents of  the  Royal  Society,  and  nearly  all  had  papers  pub- 
lished in  the  Society's  Transactions.*  Others,  like  Dr. 
William  Douglass, ^  were  making  observations  and  keeping 
in  touch  with  contemporary  science.  Increasing  intercourse 
with  England,  and  the  temporary  residence  in  Boston  of 
Englishmen  who  came  over  to  take  part  in  the  government 
of  the  colonies,  were  further  educational  and  liberalizing 
influences. 

Thus  we  find  in  the  colonies,  by  the  end  of  the  first  century 
of  colonial  life,  a  large  and  steadily  growing  body  of  edu- 
cated men.  The  proportion  of  college  men  has  never  been 
as  great  as  it  was  during  the  first  years  of  the  colonies,  when 
conditions  were  abnormal,*  but  it  was  much  greater  in  the 
third  period  than  in  the  second,  when  the  college  as  well  as 
the  colonies  showed  the  most  provinciality,  and  it  had  de- 

3  See  p.  184  ff.,  below. 

*  Dexter,  Biographical  Sketches  of  the  Graduates  of  Yale  College,  i.  124. 
5  Uiij.,  p.  275. 

*  See  p.  108,  above,  and  pp.  199  and  200,  below. 
'  See  pp.  200  and  201,  below. 

*  See  Chapter  i,  above. 


Education.  173 

veloped  under  more  liberal  surroundings.'  That  this  growth 
in  numbers  and  the  changing  environment  resulted  in  an 
increasing  literary  productivity  will  be  shown  below." 

»  See  Chapter  xiii,  below. 
'"  See  Chapter  xiv,  below. 


Chapter  XII:   Books  and  Libraries. 


DURING  the  early  years  of  the  new  century  the  flow 
of  books  to  New  England  continued.    Judge  Sewall 
constantly  imported,  as  the  records  of  his  "Diary" 
and  "Letter-Book"  show.     In  1701  he  ordered 

Dr.  Nehemiah  Grew:  Cosmologia  Sacra  (two  copies) 

Dr.  Holder:  Time 

Dr.  Holder:  Natural  Grounds  of  Harmony 

The  Assembly  Confession  of  Faith  and  Catechisms  in  Latin." 

The  same  year  he  recorded  in  a  letter  to  John  Love,  his 
London  agent, 

I  have  received  the  Box  of  Books  ....  Mr.  Colman  has 
deliverd  me  my  Dictionary  ....  I  was  very  desirous  of  the 
new  Edition  of  the  Dictionary.  But  Mr.  Collier  has  mard  and 
not  mended  it  by  his  alterations.^ 

He  inquired  in  the  same  letter  about  a  book  by  Sir  William 
Petty  on  the  greatness  of  London,  and  about  another  show- 
ing that  London  is  bigger  than  imperial  Rome  was,  ordering 
one  of  the  first,  and  three  or  four  of  the  second. 

In  1705  he  bought  "the  two  Folios  of  Mr.  Flavell's  works 
for  £3.10,"^  and  sent  the  following  order  to  London: 

Buy  for  me  all  the  statutes  at  large  made  since  Mr.  Keeble's 
Edition  1684.  Let  them  be  well  Bound  in  one  or  two  Covers  as 
shall  be  most  convenient: 

The  Register'' 

'  Letter-Book,  i.  261. 

'  Ibid.,  i.  259.  Jeremy  Collier  edited  the  1701  edition  of  "The  Great  Historical, 
Geographical,  and  Poetical  Dictionary  ....  printed  for  Henry  Rhodes."  See 
p.  118,  above. 

3  Diary,  ii.  122. 

*  Crompton,  Richard:  L'Authoritie  et  Jurisdiction  des  Courts.  Bracton,  Henricus 
de:  De  Legibus  et  Consuetudinibus  Anglise.  Britton,  Joannes:  On  the  Laws  of 
England. 


Books  and  Libraries.  175 

Cromptotr' 

Bractoir' 

Brittoni 

Fleta 

Mirrors 

as  many  of  them  as  you  can  get  in  Latin  or  English; 

Heath's  Pleadings 

Sir  Edward  Coke's  Reports.*^ 

In  171 1  he  "sent  to  Mr.  Love  for  the  Books  following;  viz. 

Pole's  English  Annotations,  two  Setts. 

Mr.  Henry's  Anotations 

Dutch  Annotations. 

Cambridge  Concordance; 

Preaching  Bible. 

Junius  and  Tremellius,  a  fair  Print  to  carry  to  Church. 

Pareus,  his  Adversaria  on  the  Bible. 

Dr.  Lightfoot's  Works  in  two  volumns 

Harris's  Lexicon  Tecnicum. 

Alcuinus; 

Tigurine  Bible. 

Pauli  Freheri  theatrum  vivorum  Eruditione  claror. 

Rushworth's  Collections  Abridgd  and  Improvd. 

Dr.  Preston's  Works. 

Ray  of  the  Wisdom  of  GOD  in  the  Creation. 

All  Calvin's  Comentaries. 

Dr.  Owen  on  6-13.  of  the  Hebrs. 

Dr.  Saunderson's  Sermons. 

Stillingfleet's  Origines  Sacrae. 

Irenicum,  Ch.  Rome. 

Pearson  on  the  Creeds^" 

This  list  was  sent  again  a  few  months  later  with  the  ex- 
ception of  the  "preaching  Bible,"  Saunderson's  Sermons, 
and  Pearson  on  the  Creeds,  and  with  the  following  addenda: 

*  See  p.  174,  note  4  above. 
5  Horn's  Miroir  des  Justices. 
'  Letter-Book,  i.  310. 
1 1bid.,  i.  411. 


176      Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

Supplement  to  the  great  Historical  Dictionary. 

Dr.  Edwards  his  Tracts. 

Two  Herbert's  Poems. 

Mr.  Watts's  Hymns. 

Virgil  in  usum  Delphini.  I  have  Ovid's  Metamorphosis;  if 
there  be  anything  else  of  Ovid  in  Usum  Delphini,  let  me  have  it. 

Dr.  Arrowsmith's  Armilla. 

If  any  of  the  Old  Books  be  so  scarce,  that  they  are  very  dear; 
forbear  buying  them;  and  acquaint  me  with  the  Price.* 

A  year  later  he  recorded 

I  by  him  presented  his  Excellency  the  Governour  with  Dr. 
Calamy's  Abridgment  of  Mr.  Baxter's  Life  &c.  in  Two  Volumes, 
Cost  me  30^  ...  9 

In  1704  a  Madam  Rebecca  Overton  of  London  considered 
Boston  a  sufficiently  good  market  to  send  over  by  Mr.  An- 
thony Young  "to  be  by  him  disposed  of  for  her  Most  ad- 
vantage" a  consignment  of  nearly  fifty  books,  mostly  the- 
ological.'" 

Wait  Winthrop,  like  Sewall,  was  sending  to  London  for 
old  books.    Samuel  Reade  wrote  to  him  in  1708, 

Y*"  person  you  mention  that  did  collect  those  bookes  hath  been 
dead  many  yeares,  &  none  hath  succeeded  him  in  that  curiosity; 
y^  bookes  almost  out  of  printe,  &  upon  inquiry  of  severall  book- 
sellers cannot  heare  of  but  very  few.  ..." 

That  Sewall  and  Winthrop  sent  to  London  for  certain 
books  is  not  to  be  construed  as  an  indication  that  books 
were  difficult  to  obtain  in  Boston.  The  opposite  is  rather 
the  case.  New  book  shops  were  opened  in  addition  to  all 
those  established  before  1700,"  and  these  were  supplemented 
by  auction  sales  of  imported  consignments  of  books,  gener- 
ally at  some  coffee-house.     Catalogues  of  these  collections 

*  Ibid.,  ii.  10. 

9  Diary,  iii.  154. 

"  Publications  of  the  Colonial  Society  of  Massachusetts,  xiii.  291. 
"  Winthrop  Papers,  vi.  171. 
"  See  p.  115  ff,  above,  and  Littlefield,  Early  Boston  Booksellers. 


Books  and  Libraries.  i  "jj 

were  printed  for  free  distribution,  and  the  sales  were  well 
advertised  in  the  Boston  papers.  New  importations  for  the 
regular  book  trade  were  also  advertised.  Boston  evidently 
furnished  a  good  market  for  the  bookseller  and  sufficient 
opportunity  for  the  book  buyer.'^ 

The  most  zealous  and  successful  book  collector  of  this 
period  was  Cotton  Mather,  who  constantly  recorded  in  his 
diary  his  joy  at  the  steady  growth  of  his  library.'"  The 
following  quotations  will  give  an  idea  of  some  of  the  ways 
in  which  it  grew. 

....  I  have  a  mighty  Thirst  after  the  Sight  of  Books,  now 
and  then  published  in  Holland:  which  may  upon  sending  you  the 
'Titles  be  transmitted  with  the  Goods  that  you  may  send  hither, 
and  I  pay  here  ....  There  is  one  Thomas  Crenius,  who  had 
published   .    .    .    .  '^ 

I  have  had  of  late  Years,  many  great  and  strange  Accessions 
to  my  Library    ....    I  will  not  have  unmention'd,  a  Present  of 

»J  The  following  are  typical  advertisements: 

"Corderius  Americanus  ....  sold  by  Nicholas  Boone  ....  As  also  a 
large  parcel  of  choice  English  Books  of  Divinity,  Poetry,  History,  &c.  In  the  last 
Vessel  from  England."     {News-Letter,  October  11-18,  1708.) 

"And  many  other  New  Books  from  England  in  the  last  Ship  .  .  .  .  B. 
Eliot,  at  his  shop  in  King  Street."     {Ibid.,  March  23-30,  1713.) 

"A  valuable  Collection  of  Books,  consisting  of  Divinity,  Physick,  Mathematicks, 
History,  Classicks,  Belles  Lettres,  in  Latin,  English  and  French,  to  be  sold  by 
Publick  Vendue  or  Auction,   at   the   Crown   CofFee-House   in   Boston    .... 
Printed  Catalogues  may  be  had  gratis."     {Ibid.,  February  6-13,  171 5/6.) 

"A  Collection  of  choice  Books,  Ancient  and  Modern,  in  several  Languages, 
upon  most  of  the  Arts  and  Sciences,  few  of  them  to  be  had  at  the  Stationers,  the 
Books  very  neatly  Bound,  to  be  sold  by  way  of  Auction  ....  at  Mr.  Sibly's 
CofiFee-House   ....   King-Street,  Boston."     {Ibid.,  August  20-27,  1716.) 

•'A  Fine  &  Large  Collection  of  BOOKS,  lately  Imported  from  London,  is  to  be 
Exposed  to  Sale  by  RETAIL  ....  By  Samuel  Gerrish  Bookseller  in  Corn-Hill 
near  the  Town-house.  The  Sale  to  begin  at  10  of  the  Clock.  The  Catalogue  is 
Printed,  and  may  be  had  gratis.  The  Number  of  Books  contained  in  it  is  as  fol- 
lows. Folios,   154.     Quartos.    596.     Octavos,  712."     {Boston   Gazette,  September 

n-2°,  1723-) 

'■•  He  frequently  mentions  among  other  favors  of  God  or  answers  to  prayer  his 
"convenient  study  with  a  well-furnished  Library;"  "my  exceedingly-well-furnished 
Library;"  "a  Library,  exceeding  any  man's  in  all  this  land;"  "my  extraordinary 
Library,  and  the  Possession  of  several  thousands  of  Books."     (Diary,  passim.) 

'5  Diary,  ii.  421.     Crenius  is  an  error  for  Crusius. 


178      Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

Books  made  me  this  Winter,  from  the  united  Library  of  our  three 
famous  Shepards;  which  enriched  me,  not  only  with  printed  Books, 
which  very  low  prized,  might  be  counted  worth  more  than  12  lb. 
but  also  with  Manuscripts  of  each  of  those  three  worthy  Men, 
which  are  vastly  more  valuable  than  all  the  other  Books.  .  .  .  "^ 

Within  these  Few  Days,  I  have  received  packetts  from  Gresham- 
Colledge;  by  which  I  am  sensible,  That  some  former  packetts  from 
them  hither,  have  unhappily  miscarried '^ 

I  have  newly  received  large  packetts  from  "Tranquebar  in  the 
East-Indies;  with  a  New  Testament  &  some  little  Books  of  piety, 
printed  in  the  Da?nulic  Language  &  character;  which  are  the  first 
things  that  ever  were  printed  in  those  parts  of  the  world '* 

Mather's  eagerness  for  books  resulted  in  the  gathering  of 
a  library  of  probably  four  thousand  volumes." 

Unfortunately  no  comprehensive  list  of  the  books  in  this 
greatest  of  colonial  private  libraries  exists.  Nearly  a  century 
ago  descendants  of  the  Mathers  gave  to  the  American  An- 
tiquarian Society  such  books  of  Cotton  Mather's  as  were 
still  in  their  possession.  From  this  collection  and  from  books 
containing  Mather's  autograph  in  various  other  libraries, 
Julius  H.  Tuttle  of  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society 
has  compiled  a  list  of  books  known  to  have  been  in  his 
library.^"     The  following  are  a  few  of  the  titles  in  that  list: 

Collectanea  Chymica:  [10  tracts] 
Hakluyt  Principal  Navigations 

Hatton  A  New  Treatise  of  Geography 

Howel,  Wm.    An  Institution  of  General  History 

'*  Diary,  i.  532. 

"  Letter  to  John  Winthrop,  July  15,  1720.     Mather  Papers,  p.  440. 

'*  Letter  to  John  Winthrop,  December  26,  1720.     Mather  Papers,  p.  445. 

'9  In  1700  it  was  approaching  3000.  See  p.  127,  above.  Mr.  C.  S.  Brigham, 
Librarian  of  the  American  Antiquarian  Society,  estimates  the  library  at  4000 
volumes.  (Publications  of  the  Colonial  Society  of  Massachusetts,  xviii.  408.) 
W.  H.  Whitmore's  note  on  page  75  of  John  Dunton's  Letters  is  incorrect  in  ascribing 
to  Cotton  Mather  the  7000-8000  volumes  which  composed  the  library  of  his  son. 
See  Drake:  Mather's  "King  Philip's  War,"  p.  xxiii. 

*>  Proceedings  of  the  American  Antiquarian  Society,  xx.  301.  See  also  chapters 
VII  and  VIII,  above. 


Books  and  Libraries. 


179 


Purchas  his  Pilgrimage 

Boyle,  R.  6  vols,  of  science 

Browne,  T.  Religio  Medici 

Digby,  K.  Observations  upon  Religio  Medici 

Hayward,  J.  Life  and  raigne  of  King  Henrie  the  IIII 

Hayward,  J.  Life  and  Raigne  of  King  Edward  the  Sixt 

Hooke,  R.  Several  volumes  of  science 

Laet,  Jean  de  Several  volumes  of  descriptions  of  countries 

Judicial  Astrologie  judicially  condemned 

Machiavelli  Princeps 

Milton  Eikonoklastes 

Overthrow  of  Stage  Playes,  1600 

Plautus  Comoediae  XX 

Prynne  Histrio-Mastix  and  others 

Rawlinson  New  Method  of  .   .   .  History  and  Geography 

Roberts  Merchants  Mappe  of  Commerce 

Stubbes  Anatomic  of  Abvses 

Withers  Grateful    Acknowledgment    of   a    late    Trimming 

Regulator 

Osborn,  F.  Miscellany  of  sundry  Essayes 

Fletcher,  G.  Israel  Redux 

Delamer,  H.  Works 

It  was  during  the  latter  part  of  this  period  that  the  Rev- 
erend Thomas  Prince  began  to  collect  his  splendid  library  of 
colonial  books.  It  is  impossible  to  determine  what  books  he 
gathered  during  these  years;  but  some  idea  of  the  number 
may  be  gained  from  the  following  single  item  in  the  manu- 
script account-book  of  Daniel  Henchman,  bookseller,  pre- 
served, curiously  enough,  in  the  Prince  Collection  of  the 
Boston  Public  Library. 

Dec.  20,  1726. 
Rev<^  Tho»  Prince,  Dr. 

To  56  octavos  2^^  hand  7.00.00 

8  Quartos  5/  2.00.00 

3  Folios  2.00.00 

During  these  years  the  Boston  Public  Library  both  grew 
and  suffered  loss.     On  August  31,  1702,  the  Selectmen  or- 


i8o      Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

dered  "that  Mr  John  Barnard  jun"^  be  desired  to  make  a 
Cattalogue  of  all  the  bookes  belonging  to  the  Towns  Liber- 
ary  and  to  Lodge  the  Same  in  y^  s^  Liberary.""  On 
February  28,  1704,  they  further  ordered  that  "Mr.  John 
Barnard  Jun""  having  at  the  request  of  the  selectmen  Set 
the  Towne  Liberary  in  good  order  he  is  allowed  for  s*^ 
Service  two  of  those  bookes  of  W""  there  are  in  y^  s'^  Liberary 
two  of  a  Sort."^'  The  fire  of  171 1  damaged  the  Town- 
House,  and  Judge  Sewall  made  the  following  note  in  his 
letter-book: 

In  our  Boston  Library  several  valuable  Books  were  lost,  as  the 
Polyglott  Bible,  the  London  Criticks,  Thuanus's  History,  a  Manu- 
script in  two  Folios  left  by  Capt:  Reyn  [Keyn]  the  Founder;  &c." 

After  the  fire  an  attempt  was  made  to  recover  as  many  as 
possible  of  the  books  mislaid  at  the  time  of  the  fire,  as  the 
following  advertisement  in  The  Boston  News-Letter  of  June 
8,  1713,  shows. 

All  Persons  that  have  in  their  Keeping,  or  can  give  Notice  of 
any  of  the  Town  Library;  or  other  things  belonging  to  the  Town- 
House  in  Boston,  before  the  late  Fire:  are  desired  to  Inform  the 
Treasurer  of  the  said  Town  thereof,  in  order  to  their  being  re- 
turned. 

The  first  Volumn  of  Pool's  Annotations  was  carryed  away  in  the 
late  Fire  in  Boston;  any  Person  that  has  it,  or  any  other  Books, 
carry'd  away  at  that  time,  or  any  other  Goods,  are  desired  to 
bring  them  to  the  Post  Office,  that  the  true  Owners  may  have 
them  again.""^ 

Of  the  Harvard  Library  at  this  time  there  are  more 
records,  though  for  a  time  there  seem  to  have  been  few 
gifts.  The  following  are  from  the  records  of  meetings  of  the 
Harvard  Corporation. 

Voted  that  the  Library  keeper  within  the  Space  of  one  month 

"  Publications  of  the  Colonial  Society  of  Massachusetts,  xii.  126. 

"  Letter-Book,  i.  422. 

«  Publications  of  the  Colonial  Society  of  Massachusetts,  xii.  128. 


Books  and  Libraries.  1 8  i 

next  coming,  take  an  Inventory,  of  all  Books,  mathematicall  In- 
struments, &  other  things  of  value  committed  to  his  Custody, 
&  Give  receipt  for  them  to  the  praesident,  to  be  accompted  for 
by  him  at  the  Expiration  of  his  Year  annually,  or  at  his  leaving 
his  place,  before  he  receive  his  salary.^'' 

Voted 

2.  That  M""  Edward  Holyoke  be  Library  keeper  for  this  year 
&  that  Six  pounds  be  allowd  him  for  the  said  Service. 

3.  That  fifty  shillings  be  allowed  and  paid  to  M''  Gookin  for 
his  taking  a  Catalogue  of  the  books  in  the  Library .^s 

Voted,  that  M*^-  Presid'  and  the  Resid'  Fellows  agree  with 
M"^  Brattle  for  what  Books  may  be  in  the  late  Treasurers  Library, 
they  think  proper  for  the  College  Library .^^ 

Voted,  that  S*"  Welsted  be  Library  Keeper  for  the  Year  Ensuing, 
and  that  £8  be  allow'd  him  for  that  Service,  and  that  he  be  di- 
rected to  take  Speciall  Care  that  the  Library  and  Books  be  kept 
in  a  better  and  more  decent  Condition  than  heretofore. ^^ 

On  the  second  of  February,  1721-2,  Thomas  Hollis,  who 
was  then  just  beginning  to  take  an  interest  in  Harvard, 
wrote  to  Benjamin  Colman  that  he  had  two  volumes  of 
Milton's  "Works,"  the  new  edition,  to  send  to  the  college.  He 
also  asked  for  a  catalogue  of  the  books  in  the  college  library 
that  he  might  know  what  to  send  them.'*  This  letter  re- 
sulted in  the  following  actions  of  the  Corporation  of  Harvard: 

The  worthy  M"^  Hollis  having  Sent  Over  a  new  &  fair  Edicon 
of  Milton's  Poetical  Works,  directing,  That  if  the  College  have 
Such  like  already,  the  s^  Books  are  at  M""  Colmans  Service  either 
to  dispose  of  or  keep,  Now  M''  Colman  being  desirous  that  the 
College  sh"^  Have  these  new,  fair  and  Well-bound  Books  intire, 
tho  part  of  the  Like  be  in  the  Library,  Voted  that  what  of  Mil- 
ton's Poetical  Works  heretofore   belonged   to  the  Library  be  de- 

^  Meeting  of  August  6,  1707.     Harvard  College  Book  IV,  p.  27. 
'5  Meeting  of  September  5,  1709.     liU.,  p.  36. 

^  Meeting  of  October  27,  1713.  Hid.,  p.  52.  The  late  Treasurer  was  Thomas 
Brattle,  who  died  in  1713. 

''  Meeting  of  September  24,  1718.     Hid.,  p.  6^. 
^  Manuscript  letter. 


1 82      Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

liver'd  to  the  Rev^  M""  Colman  to  be  disposed  of  as  he  sees 
meet.^' 

Upon  the  Intimation  lately  made  by  M""-  HoUis,  and  formerly 
by  M"^  Neal,  that  it  may  be  of  great  Advantage  to  the  College 
Library,  that  a  Catalogue  of  the  Books  in  the  s'^  Library  be 
printed  and  Sent  abroad,  Voted,  that  forthwith  the  Library-keep^ 
take  an  exact  Catalogue  of  the  Books  in  the  Library,  and  that  the 
same  be  printed  in  Order  to  transmitt  to  friends  abroad.^' 

....  The  Treasurer  is  directed  to  pay  the  Printer  afores"^ 
the  Sum  of  £22.5 **  out  of  the  College  Treasury  from  \^sic^  printing 
the  s^  Catalogue  containing  133^2  sheets. 

2.  Voted,  That  M""  Treasurer  pay  M"^  Sam'  Gerrish  the  sum 
of  £12.14^  upon  the  delivery  of  300  of  the  Printed  Catalogues. 

3.  Voted,  That  M''  Gee  be  paid  out  of  the  College-Treasury 
£20.  for  his  Service  in  preparing  the  Catalogue   .... 

4.  Voted,  that  One  hundred  of  the  afores"^  Catalogues  be  sent 
to  England,  &  that  30  of  them  be  deliver'd  to  M""  Hollis.    .    .    .^° 

This  catalogue  of  1723  contained  about  3100  M/es,  almost 
equally  divided  among  folios,  quartos,  and  octavos  (including 
all  smaller),  the  library  being  catalogued  according  to  size. 
A  selected  list  of  the  literary,  historical,  and  scientific  books 
will  be  found  in  the  Appendix,  pp.  272  to  293.  Reference  to 
this  list  will  show  that  Harvard  had  a  satisfactory  collection 
of  books,  including,  outside  the  field  of  theology,  representa- 
tive works  and  authors  in  philosophy,  science,  and  literature. 
It  is  weakest  in  English  literature,  but  even  there  some  of 
the  best  poets,  such  as  Milton  and  Shakespeare,  are  found, 
and  many  lesser  poets  from  Herbert  to  Wither.  Such  prose 
works  as  the  seventeenth  century  produced  are  well  repre- 
sented from  Hakluyt  to  Sir  William  Temple. 

Upon  the  distribution  of  the  1723  Catalogue,  interest  in 
the  Harvard  Library  greatly  increased,  especially  in  England 
under  the  stimulus  of  the  interest  of  Thomas  Hollis,  himself 

*»  Meeting  of  April  30,  1722.  College  Book  IV,  p.  75.  It  is  unfortunate  that 
we  cannot  know  how  long  the  Harvard  Library  had  possessed  part  of  the  poetical 
works  of  Milton,  or  just  what  part  it  was. 

3°  Meeting  of  December  25,  1723.     College  Book  IV,  p.  93. 


Books  and  Libraries.  183 

the  chief  benefactor  of  the  library  throughout  his  hfe,^' 
and  of  Henry  Newman,  at  one  time  "Library-keeper"  at 
Harvard,  and  from  1709  to  174I  agent  of  the  College  in 
England. -5'  In  1723  Newman  wrote  from  the  Middle  Tem- 
ple to  Henry  Flint  reporting  that  he  was  sending  copies  of 
the  statutes  of  Cambridge  and  Oxford,  the  third  and  fourth 
volumes  of  Brandt's  "History  of  the  Reformation,"  and  the 
first  volume  of  Saurin's  "Dissertation  on  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments"  as  presents  to  the  College  Library. ^^  In  1724 
came  a  gift  of  books  from  Isaac  Watts.^"  Gifts  were  also 
received  from  interested  friends  at  home,  as  shown  by  the 
vote  of  thanks  of  the  Corporation  to  Samuel  Gerrish  "for 
his  bounty  to  College  Library,  he  having  presented  to  the 
College  sundry  Books  to  the  Value  of  Ten  pounds. "^s 

The  Library  grew  so  rapidly  after  the  publication  of  the 
1723  Catalogue  that  the  Corporation  saw  fit  to  order,  at 
the  meeting  of  June  2,  1725,  the  printing  of  three  hundred 
supplements  to  the  Catalogue,  one  hundred  of  which  were 
to  be  sent  to  Thomas  HoUis  for  distribution  in  England. ^^ 
This  supplement  listed  61  titles  in  folio,  25  in  quarto,  and  80 
in  octavo  and  smaller,  a  good  growth  for  less  than  two 
calendar  years.  A  selected  list  of  these  additions  will  be 
found  in  the  Appendix,  pp.  293  to  295. 

3' Harvard  College  Book  IV,  p.  112,  in  the  records  of  the  Corporation  reports 
a  "Box  of  Books,  N?  10,  from  M*^-  Hollis."     See  also  pp.  181,  182,  above. 

3*  The  sketch  of  Newman  in  "The  Librarians  of  Harvard  College,"  p.  11,  states 
that  "during  the  whole  of  his  life  in  England,  Newman  was  active  in  furthering 
the  interests  of  the  College  in  that  country,  and  procured  for  it  many  gifts  both 
of  money  and  of  books."  An  example  of  his  work  is  given  in  a  vote  of  the  Harvard 
Corporation  passed  April  6,  1741,  as  follows:  "That  the  Pres'^'  be  desir'd  to  give 
the  Thanks  of  the  Corporation  to  Henry  Newman  of  London,  Esq.,  for  the  in- 
formation he  gives  us  by  D''  Colman  of  some  Prospect  there  is,  of  our  obtaining 
a  part  of  the  Library  of  S''  Richard  Gyles  Bar.  which  he  is  about  to  bestow  upon 
Dissenters,  &  pray  him  to  continue  his  good  Offices  to  the  College,  and  particularly 
in  that  affair."     (Harvard  Library,  Bibliographical  Contributions,  No.  52.) 

33  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Collections,  ist  Series,  vi.  118. 

34  Harvard  College  Book  IV,  p.  97. 

35  Meeting  of  December  25,  1723.     Ibid.,  p.  94. 
3^  Meeting  of  June  2,  1725.     Ibid.,  p.  102. 


184     Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

During  these  years  another  college  library  had  been  es- 
tablished in  Connecticut,  first  at  Saybrook  and  later  at  New 
Haven.  The  library  of  Yale  began  with  books  donated  from 
the  ministerial  Hbraries  of  the  colony  and  grew  by  means  of 
gifts  at  home  and  abroad.  Sir  Henry  Ashurst,  for  many 
years  the  London  agent  of  Connecticut,  wrote  to  Gurdon 
Saltonstall  in  1709  offering  to  send  "M"^  Baxter's  practicall 
volumes"  if  they  would  be  acceptable  to  him  for  the  young 
college."  Sir  John  Davie,  a  graduate  of  Harvard  in  1681, 
and  a  farmer  at  New  London  when  he  unexpectedly  suc- 
ceeded to  an  English  title  and  wealth,  sent  nearly  200  vol- 
umes to  Yale  in  its  early  days.^*  In  1714  there  arrived  over 
700  volumes  sent  by  Jeremiah  Dummer,  one-fifth  given  by 
himself,  the  rest  contributed  by  various  English  gentlemen, 
including  Sir  Richard  Steele,  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  Bishop 
Kennett  of  Peterborough,  Sir  Edmund  Andros,  Francis 
Nicholson,  Sir  Richard  Blackmore,  Dr.  John  Woodward  of 
the  Royal  Society,  Richard  Bentley,  Dr.  William  Whiston, 
Edmund  Halley,  the  astronomer,  and  EHhu  Yale."  In 
many  cases  these  men  contributed  volumes  of  their  own 
works,  Steele  contributing,  for  instance,  "all  the  Tatlers 
and  Spectators  being  eleven  Volumns."  Besides  many 
theological  books,  the  collection  included  practically  all  of 
the  important  current  books  on  medicine  and  philosophy, 
and  representative  works  on  science  and  in  history  and 
literature.  Some  idea  of  the  books  in  the  latter  classes  may 
be  gained  from  the  selected  lists  which  follow: 

Science 

Boyle  Complete  works,  philosophical  and  moral 

Wilkins  Mathematical  works 

Woodward        Natural  History  of  the  Earth 

37  Winthrop  Papers,  vi.  196. 

3^  The  year  in  which  these  books  arrived  is  not  known;  they  are  recorded  in 
Clap's  catalogue  before  the  Dummer  books. 

3'  The  details  in  regard  to  these  books  are  taken  from  President  Clap's  manu- 
script catalogue  of  early  accessions  to  the  library  of  Yale. 


Books  and  Libraries. 


.85 


Locke  Upon  Education 

Locke  Essay  on  Human  Understanding 

Huylin  Cosmographia 

Sea  Chart  of  the  Mediterranean 

Guide  to  the  Practical  Gauger 

Miscellanea    Curiosa   ....    Discourses    read    to 

the  Royal  Society 

Musaeum  Regalis  Societatis 

von  Helmont  Works 

Newton  Principia  Mathematica  Naturalis  Philosophise 

Newton  Optics 

Glauber  Works 

Whiston  Astronomical  Lectures 

Whiston  Theory  of  the  Earth 

Gregory  Elements  of  Astronomy 

Halley  Synopsis  of  Comets 

Gassendi  Metaphisica 

Hugenius  Discovery  of  Coelestial  Worlds 

Pemberton  View  of  Sir  Isaac  Newton's  Philosophy 


Raleigh 
Clarendon 


Ricaut 
Herbert 

Steele,  etc. 

Steele,  etc. 

Blackmore 

Blackmore 

Blackmore 

Blackmore 

Blackmore 

Browne 

Browne 

Cowley 

Chaucer 


History  and  Literature 

History  of  World 

History  of  the  Rebellion  and  Civil  Wars 
Complete  History  of  England  to  the  Reign  of  Wil- 
liam III 
History  of  the  Ottoman  Empire 
Memoirs  of  Charles  I 
Annals  of  Queen  Anne  for  1710-1711 
Tatler 
Spectator 
King  Arthur 
Prince  Arthur 
Eliza 

A  Paraphrase  on  Job 
Creation 
Religio  Medici 
Vulgar  Errors 
Works 
Works  and  Life 


1 86     Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 


Cleveland 

"Works  of  Mr.  Cleveland  the  poet" 

Milton 

Paradise  Lost  and  all  Poetical  Works 

Milton 

Complete  Collection  of  Prose  Works 

Jonson 

Works 

Spenser 

Works 

Wotton 

Works 

Bacon 

Advancement  of  Learning 

Bacon 

Natural  History 

Barclai 

Argenis 

Buchanani 

Poemata 

Butler 

Hudibras 

Temple,  Wm. 

,  Miscellany 

Glanvil 

Sadducismus  Triumphatus 

Hale 

Contemplations 

Feltham 

Resolves 

The  Turkish  Spy 
The  Athenian  Oracle 
A    Defence    of    Dramatic    Poetry    in 
Collier 

Collier 

Essays 

Shaftesbury 

Works 

Answer    to 


In  171 8  over  four  hundred  volumes  more  arrived,  the  gift 
of  Elihu  Yale.  These  added  many  classical  books,  many 
historical  books,  and  some  current  literature.  Other  gifts 
followed,  of  which  detail  is  lacking,  but  the  library  evidently 
continued  to  grow,  as  is  indicated  by  the  following  vote  of 
the  trustees  of  Yale  at  the  meeting  of  September  8,  1731: 

Whereas  there  are  several  Books  in  the  Library  tiiat  are  dupli- 
cates we  resolve  that  one  Book  or  Sett  of  each  duplicate  be  sold 
by  the  Rector  &  Tutors  &  the  money  improved  in  purchasing  of 
other  Books  that  the  Library  at  present  is  not  furnished  with.'*" 

An  attempt  was  made  to  interest  Thomas  Hollis  in  Yale, 
but  the  attempt  failed  as  the  following  letter  shows: 

I  have  now  another  letter — anonimous— about  Yale  College — 
I  know  not  the  man,  but  supose  him  to  be  urged  unto  it  by  your 

*"  Dexter,  Documentary  History  of  Yale,  p.  290. 


Books  and  Libraries.  187 

agent  Dummer — I  inclose  it  you.  I  have  no  inclination  to  be 
diverted  from  my  projected  design — if  you  know  the  Author,  pray 
let  him  know  so — I  have  told  Dummer  the  same."" 

The  failure  to  interest  HoUis  was  compensated  by  the 
interest  which  Bishop  Berkeley  took  in  the  young  college, 
which  resulted  in  his  gift,  shortly  after  the  close  of  this 
period,  of  over  one  thousand  volumes,  including  the  best  of 
English  literature  from  Shakespeare  and  Bacon  to  Pope, 
Gay,  and  Swift,  with  several  volumes  of  plays — even 
Wycherley.i^ 

Besides  these  public  libraries,  at  least  one  semi-public 
library  was  established  during  the  latter  part  of  this  period 
in  connection  with  Franklin's  New  England  Courant^  the 
first  issue  of  which  appeared  August  7,  1721.  In  No.  48 
of  the  Courant^  published  July  2,  1722,  is  given  a  list  of  the 
books  kept  in  the  office  of  the  paper  for  the  use  of  writers. 
It  includes  the  following :« 

Shakespeare's  Works 

Virgil 

Aristotle's  Politicks 

Hudibras 

Milton 

The  Spectator,  8  volumes 

The  Guardian,  2  volumes 

The  Turkish  Spy 

The  Athenian  Oracle 

The  British  Apollo 

The  x^rt  of  Thinking 

The  Art  of  Speaking 

The  Reader 

The  Lover 

Cowley's  Works 

Burnet's  History  of  the  Reformation 

•"  Letter  of  Hollis  to  John  White,  Treasurer  of  Harvard,  July  12,  1721.    From 
copy  in  the  files  of  the  Librarian  of  Harvard  University. 
*'  President  Clap's  manuscript  catalogue. 
■♦3  Cook,  Literary  Influences  in  Colonial  Newspapers,  p.  20. 


1 88     Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

Burnet's  Theory  of  the  Earth 

Oldham's  Works 

The  Tale  of  the  Tub 

St.  Augustine's  Works 

Tillotson's  Works 

Dr.  Bates'  Works 

Dr.  South's  Works 

Mr.  Flavel's  Works 

Mr.  Charnock's  Works 

Many  pamphlets. 

Of  interest  in  connection  with  the  lists  already  given  are 
the  lists  of  the  books  which  William  Adams,  Yale  1730, 
packed  to  carry  to  college  with  him  at  the  beginning  of  his 
Freshman  and  Sophomore  years: 

Ace'  of  Books  y'  William  Adams  put  up  to  carry  to  College, 
Nov  5.  1726. 

Elisha  Coles  Dictionary, 
A  Latin  Grammar, 
A  Greek 
Tully's  Offices, 

"        Orations, 
Virgil's  Works, 
Horace, 
English  Virgil, 
Greek  Testament, 
Latin  " 

Catechisms,  and  Confessio  Fidei, 
Latin  Bible, 
Septuagint, 
Florilegium  Phrase^n, 
Phraseologia  Anglolatina, 
Pasor's  Lexicon, 
Lucius  Florus, 
An  English  Bible, 
A  Call  to  Backsliders, 
English  Exercises, 
Ovid  de  Tristibus, 
Corderius'  Colloquies, 


Books  and  Libraries.  189 

Terence, 

Ramus, 

Mr.  Willard's  Penitent  Prodigal, 

An  English  Dictionary, 

Observations  on  the  Present  State  of  Turkey, 

The  Strong  Helper, 

The  Everlasting  Gospel, 

The  life  of  Mr.  Edmund  French, 

The  Songs  of  the  Redeemed, 

Nomenclator,  Singing  Book, 

Catechism, 
Some  of  his  father's  Sermons.''^ 

The  next  year  he  carried  the  following,  October  23:45 

Locke  of  the  Human  Understanding, 
Locke  of  Education, 

Hebrew  Bible,  with  Greek  Testament  at  the  end, 
Hebrew  Grammar, 
Amesii  Medulla  Theologise, 
Burgersdicii  Logica, 
Buxtorf's  Lexicon, 
Clark's  Formulae, 
AUin's  Alarm, 
Mr.  Coleman  of  Mirth, 
Mr.  Williams'  Redeemed  Captive, 
Flemming's  Rod  or  Sword, 
Mr.  Penhallow's  Hist:  of  y*^  Indian  War, 
Mr.  Flavel's  Divine  Conduct,  or  Mystery  of  Providence. 
Kennet's  Roman  Antiquities, 
Gordon's  Geographical  Grammar, 
Hist,  of  y^  House  of  Orange. 
Pope's  Homer,  Vol.  1. 
Homer's  Iliad, 
Dugard's  Rhetorick, 
Grotius,  De  jure  Belli  et  Pacis, 
Sanderson,  De  Conscientia, 
"         Dejuramento. 

^  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Collections,  4th  Series,  i.  43. 
«  Ibid.,  p.  44. 


190     Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

With  all  the  growth  of  libraries  and  the  means  to  acquire 
books,  the  old  custom  of  borrowing  and  lending  continued, 
and  those  who  lived  "iaear  the  booksellers  sent  gifts  of  books 
to  those  who  were  at  a  distance.  As  in  the  early  days  of  the 
colonies,  the  name  of  Winthrop  is  most  prominent  in  this 
exchange  of  books;  but  this  may  be  partly  because  we  have 
more  records  of  the  Winthrops  than  of  any  other  family. 
Wait  Winthrop  wrote  to  his  son, 

I  want  Buckstone's  Lexicon  for  one  of  the  words  .  .  .  "* 

Again  he  wrote, 

I  likewise  send  an  Almanack  and  the  Importance  of  Duncark, 
which  is  worth  reading  if  you  go  through;  it  is  M""  Lechmers''^ 
brothers,  and  must  be  sent  again,  and  then  you  may  haue  more.''* 

John  Winthrop  wrote  to  Cotton  Mather, 

I  thank  you  heartily  for  yo"'  very  agreeable  and  entertaining 
communications  from  y^  Royall  Society,  and  especially  for  y^ 
sight  of  D""  Woodwards  Naturalis  Historia  Telluris.^^ 

Cotton  Mather  wrote  to  him  January  11,  171 8-9, 

I  have  begun  with  sending  you,  that  peece  of  my  dear  S""  Rich- 
ard,^°  which  will  prepare  you  for  the  rest. 5' 

November  30  of  the  same  year  he  wrote, 

When  shall  S"^  Richard  return!  some  of  my  Neighbours  dun  me 
for  him. 5^ 

Again  the  next  February  he  wrote. 

My  dear, — Hast  thou  not  yett  with  thee  one  of  S''  Richards 
volumes,  His  " Essay es,"  in  prose?     Examine  thy  Library. s-? 

^'  Winthrop  Papers,  vi.  225.     Dated  October,  1710. 

^7  This  is  probably  the  Thomas  Lechmere  who  married  Wait  Winthrop's  only 
daughter,  Anne,  in  1709. 

*^  Winthrop  Papers,  vi.  280.     October  28,  1713. 

^'  /^/(/.,  p.  332.    November  5, 1716.    Dr.  Woodward's  book  was  published  in  1714. 

5°  This  is  Sir  Richard  Blackmore.     See  p.  198,  below. 

s'  Mather  Papers,  p.  433. 

5=>  Uid.,  p.  435. 

"  Uid.,  p.  437. 


Books  and  Libraries.  1 9 1 

In    spite    of   Winthrop's     tardiness     in     returning    books, 
Mather  continued  to  send  them: 

I  hope,  you  have  received  the  packetts  which  I  sent  you  a  few 
weeks  ago:  Both  a  Number  of  coheleth;S4  And  also  D^  Wood- 
ward's pamphletts.ss 

As  a  borrower  Mather  wrote  to  Thomas  Prince,  April  16, 
1718,  to  ask, 

....  if  you'l  favour  me,  by  this  Bearer,  with  the  Book  of 
Poetry,  you  bought  the  last  week  at  your  Booksellers. ^^ 

Samuel    Sewall,   writing    to    John   Williams,  of  Deerfield, 
added. 

Inclosed  the  Non-Conformists  Letter,  this  weeks  News-Letter, 
Half  Duz.  Mr.  Hobart's  verses,  with  the  occasion;  They  are 
chiefly  hortatory,  and  therefore  I  might  honestly  print  them." 

Many  similar  quotations  might  be  given  as  further  evi- 
dence of  this  custom,  but  it  seems  unnecessary  to  add  more 
than  the  following  statement  of  Cotton  Mather's  which 
shows  how  far  the  practice  was  carried: 

Seldome  any  new  Book  of  Consequence  finds  the  way  from  be- 
yond-Sea, to  these  Parts  of  America,  but  I  bestow  the  Perusal 
upon  it.'^* 

In  the  meantime  the  popular  distribution"  of  books,  pam- 
phlets, and  broadsides  had  increased,  for  Mather  recorded  in 
his  diary,  in  1713, 

I  am  informed,  that  the  Minds  and  Manners  of  many  People 
about  the  Countrey  are  much  corrupted,  by  foolish  Songs  and 
Ballads,  which  the  Hawkers  and  Pedlars  carry  into  all  parts  of  the 
Countrey.     By  way  of  Antidote,  I  would  procure  poetical  Corn- 
s'* Coheleth:   A  Soul  upon  Recollection.    Written  by  a  Fellow  of  the  Royal  So- 
ciety.      Cotton  Mather.       1720. 
55  Mather  Papers,  p.  442. 
5'  Proceedings  of  the  American  Antiquarian  Society,  xx.  295. 

57  Letter-Book,  ii.  8. 

58  Diary,  i.  548. 

59  See  p.  126,  above. 


192     Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

posures  full  of  Piety,  and  such  as  may  have  a  Tendency  to  advance 
Truth  and  Goodness,  to  be  published,  and  scattered  into  all 
Corners  of  the  Land.  There  may  be  an  Extract  of  some,  from  the 
excellent  Watts'' s  Hymns.^° 

When,  in  the  latter  part  of  that  year,  the  Assembly  passed 
laws  restricting  pedlars,*'  Mather  feared  lest  its  provisions 
might  interfere  with  his  plan,  for  he  noted  in  his  diary: 

I  must  also  assist  the  Booksellers,  in  addressing  the  Assembly, 
that  their  late  Act  against  Pedlers,  may  not  hinder  their  Hawkers 
from  carrying  Books  of  Piety  about  the  Countrey.*^ 

From  the  last  sentence  of  the  above  it  would  seem  that 
the  booksellers  made  regular  use  of  such  hawkers  in  extend- 
ing their  business;  this  may  have  been  the  case  for  many 
years,  for  Mather  planned  to  have  books  of  piety  so  dis- 
tributed as  early  as  1683.*^  Of  course  it  cannot  be  presumed 
that  these  hawkers  carried  much  or,  perhaps,  any  real  litera- 
ture, their  stock  being  made  up  chiefly  of  broadside  ballads, 
chapbooks,  and  almanacs;  but  if  there  were  so  many  pedlars 
selling  so  many  questionable  books  that  a  law  was  necessary 
to  regulate  them,  evidently  there  was  a  public  demand  for 
interesting  narrative  in  either  prose  or  verse,  if  not  for  real 
poetry.  Most  of  their  ballads  and  chapbooks  were  probably 
imported  from  England,  but  such  homemade  productions  as 
Wigglesworth's  "The  Day  of  Doom,"  "The  New  England 
Primer,"  and  Cotton  Mather's  "Life  of  Sir  William  Phipps" 
would  be  among  the  best  sellers. 

If  James  Gray,  the  only  book  hawker  of  whom  there 
seems  to  be  any  extant  record,  may  be  considered  typical, 
these  pedlars  found  their  business  profitable.  Upon  his 
death  the  following  notice  appeared  in  The  Boston  News- 
Letter  of  April  9-16,  1705: 

On  Thursday  last  Dyed  at  Boston,  James  Gray,  That  used  to 

<*"  Diary,  ii.  242. 

''Province  Laws,  i.  720.     Published  November  14,  1713. 

''  Diary,  ii.  283. 

'3  See  p.  1 26,  above. 


Books  and  Libraries.  193 

go  up  and  down  the  Country  Selling  of  Books,  who  left  some  con- 
siderable Estate  behind  him,  and  'tis  confidently  affirmed  that  he 
made  a  Will,  which  he  left  in  some  honest  persons  hand,  with  some 
other  Papers,  which  have  not  yet  been  found:  And  any  person  in 
Town  or  Country  who  have  said  Will  or  Papers,  are  desired  to 
bring  them  unto  the  Office  of  Probates  in  Boston. 

Judge  Sewall  was  sufficiently  interested  in  either  the  man 
or  the  case  to  make  a  note  of  the  amount  of  the  estate  in 
the  margin  of  his  copy  of  the  News-Letter.  Edward  Brom- 
field  and  Paul  Dudley  were  appointed  administrators  of  the 
estate.  According  to  their  final  accounting,  the  value  of  the 
estate  was  £712.11.3,  of  which  £699.06.  was  in  cash,  eight 
bags  of  coin  of  all  kinds  and  denominations  being  listed  in 
the  inventory.*''  "James  Gray,  Bookseller  als.  Pedler,"  as 
he  is  entitled  in  the  Probate  Record,  had  evidently  found 
the  country  folk  of  New  England  ready  and  eager  to  purchase 
his  books. 

Other  information  in  regard  to  books  owned  or  read  during 
these  years  is  found  in  quotations  from  or  references  to  them. 
Samuel  Sewall,  for  instance,  recorded  in  his  diary, 

.  .  .  set  out  [from  Bristol]  ....  for  Narraganset.  Din'd  at 
Bright's:  while  Diner  was  getting  ready  I  read  in  Ben  Johnson, 
a  Folio  .  .  .  *s 

From  the  folio  he  copied  some  dozen  lines  into  his  diary. 
At  other  times  he  recorded: 

I  gave  the  President  and  him  the  reading  of  Mr.  Sewell's 
Answer  to  the  Bp.  Salisbury's  new  preface.  .  .  J'^  Gave  each  of 
them  Maroll's  Martyrdom,  Marbled. ^^ 

Inclosed   ....   Dr.  Edwards's  Answer  to  Sacheverell.*^ 
Inclosed  Mr.  Prior's  Epitaph  (which  Gov""  Saltonstall  had  not 
seen  before) : 

'■t  Suffolk  Probate  Records,  xvi.  289  and  620,  621. 

's  Diary,  ii.  167. 

**  Ibid.,  ii.  391. 

'7  Ibid.,  ii.  391.     This  was  published  in  1712. 

'*  Letter-Book,  i.  398. 


194     Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

"Monarchs,  and  Heraulds,  by  your  leave 
"Here  ly  the  bones  of  Matthew  Prior; 
"The  Son  of  Adam  and  of  Eve: 
"Let  Bourbon,  or  Nassau,  goe  higher!"^' 

This  last  quotation  is  very  interesting  because  it  seems  to 
have  reached  New  England  before  it  was  published  in  Eng- 
land. Austin  Dobson  writes,^"  "This  epitaph  does  not 
appear  to  have  been  published  during  Prior's  lifetime." 
Prior  died  in  September,  1721,  and  Sewall  quoted  the  poem 
January  15,  1721-2.  It  was  probably  first  published  in  "A 
New  Collection  of  Poems,"  1725.  It  may  have  circulated  in 
manuscript  or  even  by  word  of  mouth;  in  either  case  its 
reaching  America  so  soon  would  indicate  that  some  of  the 
colonists  were  in  close  touch  with  English  letters.  This  is 
also  indicated  by  the  following  "good  device"  jotted  down 
by  Cotton  Mather  in  August,  17 13: 

Perhaps,  by  sending  some  agreeable  Things,  to  the  Author  of, 
The  Spectator,  and.  The  Guardian,  there  may  be  brought  forward 
some  Services  to  the  best  Interests  in  the  Nation.'^ 

Anything  he  might  have  sent  would  probably  have  been 
too  late  for  publication,  as  The  Guardian  ceased  with  the 
issue  of  September  22,  1713;  on  the  other  hand,  as  it  began 
publication  May  28,  1713,  Mather  was  not  slow  to  realize 
its  value.  At  the  end  of  his  printed  sermon  or  "essay,"  "A 
New  Year  Well  Begun,"  which  bears  the  date  of  January  i, 
1718-9,  Mather  added  New-Tears-Day,  "From  Sir  Richard 
Blackmore's  Collection  of  Poems,  Printed  at  London,  Anno 
1718."  Still  another  example  of  colonial  interest  in  English 
literature  is  the  item  published  in  The  New  England  Courant 
No.  22,  January  i,  1722,  "a  noble  Duke  is  about  to  erect  a 
Monument  in  Westminster  Abby  to  the  Memory  of  Milton, 
the  Poet."72 

^  Ibid.,  ii.  142. 

7"  Selected  Poems  of  Matthew  Prior,  p.  233. 

^  Diary,  ii.  227. 

^Albert  Matthews  in  'The  Nation,  December  24,  1908.     (Vol.  87,  p.  624.) 


Books  and  Libraries.  195 

That  James  Franklin  was  interested  in  Milton  as  a  poet 
is  shown  by  the  presence  of  a  copy  of  Milton  in  the  Courant 
library,"  and  by  his  twice  quoting  from  "Paradise  Lost," 
once  with  the  introductory  remark,  "Hear  how  the  lofty 
Milton  sings  of  this  in  his  own  inimitable  Strain. "^^ 

Another  who  was  interested  in  Milton  was  the  Reverend 
Thomas  Buckingham  of  Hartford,  who  carried  with  him  on 
the  expedition  against  Crown  Point  in  171 1,  along  with  a 
Bible  and  Psalm-book,  "Milton  on  Comus,"  as  he  called  it 
in  his  journal. 75 

Speaking  of  the  reprinting  of  "George  Barnwell  "in  The 
New  England  Weekly  Journal^  beginning  February  I4,  1732, 
Miss  Cook  remarks  :7^ 

One  of  the  most  noteworthy  realistic  tragedies  of  the  eighteenth 
century  was  thus  reprinted  in  the  Puritan  stronghold  of  America, 
within  a  surprisingly  short  time  of  its  first  appearance."  This 
fact  seems  to  have  escaped  observation  until  now.  Probably  a 
stray  copy  of  the  play  had  found  its  way  into  Kneeland's  book- 
shop. We  cannot  suppose  that  it  had  a  place  in  the  Prince  or 
Byles  libraries!  Evidently  Boston  readers  were  rather  more 
liberal  in  their  tastes  than  we  have  been  accustomed  to  think. 

If  we  recall  the  interest  in  contemporary  literature  which 
has  been  shown  in  this  chapter,  as  well  as  the  possibility 
that  John  Dunton  sold  plays  and  romances  in  Boston  nearly 
fifty  years  earlier,^^  it  will  not  seem  so  strange  that  such  a 
play  as  "George  Barnwell,"  with  its  sturdy  Puritan  morality, 
should  be  reprinted  in  Boston.  On  the  contrary,  such  re- 
printing is  just  what  we  might  expect  when  we  take  into 
consideration  the  evidences  of  the  growing  liberality  of  life 
in  Boston  which  will  be  presented  in  the  next  chapter,  as 
well  as  the  constantly  increasing  accessibility  and  appre- 

'3  See  p.  187,  above. 

^^  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Proceedings,  xlii.  164. 

75  The  Journals  of  Madam  Knight,  and  Rev.  Mr.  Buckingham,  p.  106. 

7*  Literary  Influences  in  Colonial  Newspapers,  p.  55. 

"  The  play  was  produced  in  1730,  two  years  earlier. 

7*  See  p.  1 20,  above. 


196     Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

ciation  of  books  and  literature  of  all  kinds  during  the  last 
forty,  and  especially  the  last  twenty,  years  of  the  first 
century  of  colonial  life.  At  the  close  of  its  first  century 
New  England  was  in  touch  with  and  responding  to  the 
literary  movements  of  England. ''^ 

"  See  Chapter  xiv,  below. 


chapter  XIII:  Other  Phases  of  Culture. 


IN  the  opening  years  of  the  new  century  there  seems  to 
have  been  a  revival  of  intercourse  between  New  Eng- 
landers  and  representative  men  in  England.  Joseph 
Dudley,  who  returned  to  Boston  in  1702  as  Governor,  after 
a  nine  years'  residence  in  England,'  had  during  those  years 
become  a  close  friend  of  Sir  Richard  Steele,  who  was  private 
secretary  to  Lord  Cutts,  Governor  of  the  Isle  of  Wight, 
when  Dudley  was  Lieutenant-Governor.  The  following  ex- 
tract from  a  letter  written  by  Steele  to  Dudley  shows  their 
intimacy. 

S% —  I  have  your  kind  raillery  of  the  4'^  and  shall  not  pretend 
to  answer  it:  you  may  excuse  my  not  doing  that  in  your  observa- 
tion of  the  losse  of  my  brains,    .    .    .    .^ 

Benjamin  Colman's  four  years  in  England^  gave  him  the 
opportunity  to  form  many  friendships  which  he  continued 
by  correspondence.  Among  his  correspondents  were  Thomas 
Mollis,  Isaac  Watts,  Daniel  Neal,''  Edward  Calamy,  Bishop 
White  Kennett  of  Peterborough,^  Sir  Richard  Blackmore* 
and  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Singer  Rowe  ("Philomela"). 7 

Cotton  Mather  established  a  correspondence  with  men 

'  See  p.  152,  above. 

'  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Proceedings,  ad  Series,  iii.  201.  The  letter 
bears  the  date  of  June  25,  1700. 

3  See  p.  152,  above. 

*  Colman  contributed  much  material  to  Neal's  History  of  New  England.  (Turell, 
Life  of  Colman,  p.  150.) 

s  Jeremiah  Dummer  wrote  to  Colman  from  England,  January  15,   1714,  "I 

pray  your  acceptance  of  the  prints  inclosed I  have  committed  to  captain 

Willard,  a  book  presented  you  by  your  good  friend  the  dean  [later  the  bishop] 
of  Peterborough."  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Collections,  ist  Series,  v. 
199. 

'  Blackmore  sent  him  copies  of  his  poems.    (Turell,  Life  of  Colman,  p,  150.) 

'  Il>id.,  passim.     See  p.  I49,  above. 


198      Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

not  only  in  England  but  on  the  Continent.  On  May  23, 
171 1,  he  made  the  following  entry  in  his  diary :^ 

Having  some  epistolar  Conversation  with  Mr.  De  Foe,  I  would 
in  mv  Letters  unto  him,  excite  him  to  apply  himself  unto  the 
work  of  collecting  and  publishing  an  History  of  the  Persecutions 
which  the  Dissenters  have  undergone  from  the  Ch[urch]  of 
E[ngland]. 

In  September  of  the  same  year  he  named  Sir  Richard  Black- 
more  among  the  "eminent  Persons  beyond-sea"  who  "take 
notice  of  me,  and  such  as  I  myself  never  have  written  unto, 
send  me  their  Letters  and  their  Presents. "'  In  December 
he  recorded  an  idea: 

I  would  write  unto  Sir  Richard  Blachnore,  my  Desires,  that  His 
incomparable  Pen  may  make  its  furthest  Efforts,  in  paying  an 
Homage  to  our  admirable  JESUS;  in  celebrating  His  Beauties, 
before  which  those  of  the  whole  Creation  languish  and  vanish; 
in  uttering  the  awakened  Songs  of  His  Love  to  the  Children  of 
Men;  in  describing  the  illustrious  Example  of  all  Goodness,  which 
He  has  given  us;  in  asserting  His  Government  over  the  Works  of 
God;  and  Painting  out  the  Grandeurs  wherein  He  shall  come  to 
raise  the  Dead  and  judge  the  World,  and  the  Delights  of  the 
new  Heavens  and  the  new  Earth,  which  shall  succeed  the  Resur- 
rection.'" 

Mather  also  corresponded  with  Dr.  Franckius,  in  Lower 
Saxony,"  with  Anthony  W.  Boehm  of  Halle,  who  had  writ- 
ten to  him  in  regard  to  a  copy  of  the  "Magnalia"  which 
had  come  into  his  hands,"  and  with  certain  other  professors 
at  the  University  of  Halle. '^ 

In  1 713  Mather's  paper  on  "Curiosa  Americana"  was  read 
before  the  Royal  Society  and  he  was  proposed  for  member- 
ship.  Soon  after  he  was  elected,  but  his  name  did  not  appear 

*  Diary,  ii.  74. 

9  Ibid.,  ii.  105. 
^°  Ibid.,  ii.  141. 
«  Ibid.,  ii.  74. 
^  Ibid.,  ii.  411. 
'J  Ibid.,  ii.  150. 


Other  Phases  of  Culture,  199 

upon  the  rolls  of  the  society  for  a  decade  because  at  the  time 
members  had  to  qualify  in  person,  which  he  was  unable  to 
do  as  he  did  not  visit  England.  In  1723  arrangements  were 
made  whereby  his  name  appeared  upon  the  rolls  as  a  regular 
member. '4 

William  Brattle  was  elected  a  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Society 
March  11,  1714.'^  Paul  Dudley,  many  of  whose  articles 
were  published  in  the  Transactions  of  the  Society,  was 
elected  a  Fellow  on  November  2,  1721.^5  Dr,  Zabdiel 
Boylston,  who  was  the  first  in  America  to  experiment  with 
inoculation  for  smallpox,  was  invited  by  Sir  Hans  Sloane, 
the  court  physician,  to  visit  London.  He  received  flattering 
attention  from  the  scientists  of  England,  being  elected  a 
Fellow  of  the  Royal  Society,  before  which  he  read  a  paper 
on  the  subject  of  inoculation.  This  paper  was  published  in 
London  in  the  year  1726,  being  dedicated  by  permission  to 
the  Princess  of  Wales. '^ 

John  Winthrop,  son  of  Wait  Winthrop,  generally  referred 
to  as  John  Winthrop,  F.R.S.,  to  distinguish  him  from  the 
other  John  Winthrops,  also  corresponded  with  the  members 
of  the  Royal  Society.  He  wrote  to  Cotton  Mather  in  April, 
1721, 

W'  is  become  of  the  Docf  at  Gresham?'^  I  am  making  an  other 
sett  of  rarieties  &  curiositys  for  the  Royall  Society,  w'''^  I  am  think- 
ing to  present  w'^  my  owne  hands. 

In  1726  he  did  go  to  England,  and  there  became  an  active 
member  of  the  Royal  Society,  the  40th  volume  of  the  So- 

'■»  Publications  of  the  Colonial  Society  of  Massachusetts,  xiv.  8i  ff.  Criticism 
has  often  been  directed  against  Mather  for  using  the  initials  F.R.S.  after  his  name 
many  years  before  1723.  As  he  had  been  officially  notified  of  his  election  in  1713, 
and  as  No.  339  of  the  Philosophical  Transactions,  issued  in  1714,  gave  him  this 
title,  such  criticism  is  unjust. 

»5  Publications  of  the  Colonial  Society  of  Massachusetts,  xiv.  291. 

'*  Green,  History  of  Medicine  in  Massachusetts,  p.  67. 

'7  Winthrop  Papers,  vi.  399  note.  The  Doctor  referred  to  is  presumably  Dr. 
John  Woodward,  Secretary  of  the  Royal  Society,  who  continued  to  reside  at 
Gresham  College,  London,  after  the  Royal  Society  moved  to  other  quarters. 


200      Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

ciety's  Transactions  being  dedicated  to  him.'*  Winthrop 
enjoyed  English  life  so  much  that  he  never  returned  to  New 
England. 

Thomas  Robie,  Harvard  1708,  later  a  tutor  and  Fellow 
of  the  Corporation,  had  several  papers  on  mathematical  and 
physical  subjects  published  in  the  Transactions  of  the  Royal 
Society,  but  does  not  seem  to  have  been  a  member.''  He 
died  in  1729  at  the  age  of  forty-one;  had  he  lived  longer  he 
might  have  been  chosen  a  Fellow.  Dr.  William  Doug- 
lass, a  Scotch  physician  (best  known  perhaps  because  of 
his  strong  opposition  to  the  practice  of  inoculation  and  its 
sponsor.  Cotton  Mather,)  accepted  Robie's  observations  of 
eclipses,  latitude,  longitude,  etc." 

Others  than  Winthrop  went  to  England  to  reside  during 
this  period.  Henry  Newman,  Harvard  1687,  went  about 
1707.  For  a  time  he  lived  in  the  family  of  the  Duke  of 
Somerset,  in  what  capacity  is  not  known,  and  later  acted 
as  the  agent  of  Harvard  College,  from  1709  to  1741,  and 
also  as  agent  of  New  Hampshire."  Jeremiah  Dummer, 
Harvard  1699,  after  studying  at  Utrecht,"  settled  in  Eng- 
land, where  he  acted  for  a  time  as  the  agent  of  Connecticut.^^ 

While  such  Americans  living  in  England  formed  a  bond 
between  the  old  and  the  new,  other  links  were  formed  by 
the  Governors  sent  out  from  England  and  their  trains,  and 
by  those  who  still  turned  to  the  new  world  to  better  their 
fortunes.  The  latter  included  such  men  as  Dr.  William 
Douglass,  who,  in  spite  of  his  very  conservative  attitude 
toward  smallpox  inoculation,  was  interested  in  science.  In 
a  letter  to  Dr.  Cadwallader  Colden  of  New  York  he  sent 
a  complete  report  of  the  weather  for  the  year  past — that 
is,  as  complete  as  he  could  keep  it  with  "no  other  instru- 

^^  Ibid.,  iv.  571  note. 

'>  Librarians  of  Harvard  College,  p.  i6. 

'"  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Collections,  4th  Series,  ii.  185. 

"  See  p.  183,  above. 

"  See  p.  104,  above. 

'3  Winthrop  Papers,  vi.  passim. 


Other  Phases  of  Cuhure.  201 

ments  than  the  naked  eye,  pen,  ink,  and  paper,  I  know  of 
no  Thermometer  nor  Barometer  in  this  place. "^•»  He  added 
that  there  was  a  "good  Quadrant  and  Telescope  in  the  Col- 
lege about  four  miles  from  this,"  whereby  he  hoped  to  take 
observations  of  the  sun,  study  eclipses,  and  so  on.  Some 
time  after  this  he  was  one  of  the  organizers  of  the  Boston 
Medical  Society.^s 

Another  who  came  in  search  of  a  fortune  was  Thomas 
Lechmere,  younger  son  of  Edmund  Lechmere,  Esq.,  and 
grandson  of  Sir  Nicholas  Lechmere,  a  distinguished  judge. 
Thomas  Lechmere's  older  brother,  Nicholas,  became  the 
Attorney-General  of  England  and  was  raised  to  the  peerage 
as  Lord  Lechmere  in  1721.  LecHmere  brought  with  him 
money  with  which  to  trade,  and  soon  added  to  it  by  mar- 
riage with  Anne  Winthrop,  sister  of  John  Winthrop,  F.R.S.^'^ 

Of  wealth  and  luxury  in  New  England  at  this  time  one 
illustration  will  perhaps  be  sufficient.  The  expenditure  at 
the  time  of  the  funeral  of  Fitz-John  Winthrop,  in  1707, 
amounted  to  over  £600,  the  modern  equivalent  for  which 
would  be  somewhat  over  $10,000.00.  The  single  item  of 
sugar  for  the  burnt  wine  was  £2.09.06,  or  about  |5o.oo!^7 

There  are  evidences  that  the  "worldliness"  noticed  in  the 
second  period^*  was  increasing.  In  1714  Samuel  Sewall 
found  it  necessary  to  write  to  Isaac  Addington: 

There  is  a  Rumor,  as  if  some  design'd  to  have  a  Play  acted  in 

^*  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Collections,  4th  Series,  ii.  165.  Letter 
dated  Feb.  20,  1720-1.  In  connection  with  the  lack  of  such  instruments  it  must 
be  remembered  that  the  Fahrenheit  thermometer  had  been  invented  only  in  1714, 
and  that  the  barometer,  although  devised  earlier,  was  but  slowly  coming  into  use. 
There  had  been  a  barometer  in  Boston  many  years  before  this,  for  in  the  inventory 
of  the  estate  of  John  Foster,  the  printer,  occurs  the  item  "wether  glasses,"  which 
was  the  seventeenth  century  term  for  barometer.  The  inventory  was  taken  in 
1681.     (Green,  John  Foster,  p.  52.) 

^5  This  was  formed  about  1735;  it  published  some  papers.  Massachusetts  Histor- 
ical Society,  Collections,  4th  Series,  ii.  188. 

^  Winthrop  Papers,  vi.  367  note. 

'7  Ii>id.y  V.  412.  When  Mrs.  Katherine  Eyre  married  Wait  Winthrop  in  1707, 
the  inventory  of  her  property  totaled  £5,328.12.2.     (Winthrop  Papers,  vi.  158-9.) 

'^  See  p.  1 56  S.y  above. 


20  2      Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

the  Council-Chamber,  next  Monday;  which  much  surprises  me: 
And  as  much  as  in  me  lyes,  I  do  forbid  it.  The  Romans  were  very- 
fond  of  their  Plays:  but  I  never  heard  they  were  so  far  set  upon 
them,  as  to  turn  their  Senat-House  into  a  Play-House.  Our 
Town-House  was  built  at  great  Cost  and  Charge,  for  the  sake 
of  very  serious  and  important  Business;  ....  Let  it  not  be 
abused  with  Dances,  or  other  Scenical  divertisements  .... 
Ovid  himself  offers  invincible  Arguments  against  publick  Plays. ^^ 

The  next  year  Wait  Winthrop,  writing  to  his  son  John, 
mentioned  the  fact  that  "Molle  ....  is  well  and  brisk, 
and  goes  to  dancing."-"'  The  Boston  News-Letter  for  August 
22-29,  1715,  published  the  following  notice: 

This  is  to  give  Notice  that  at  Cambridge  on  Wednesday  '■he 
2ist  day  of  September  next,  will  be  Run  for,  a  Twenty  Pound 
Plate,  by  any  Horse,  Mare  or  Gelding  not  exceeding  Fourteen 
and  an  half  hands  high,  carrying  1 1  Stone  Weight,  and  any  Per- 
son or  Persons  shall  be  welcome  to  Run  his  Horse  &c,  entering 
the  same  with  Mr.  Fattoun  at  the  Green  Dragon  in  Boston,  any 
of  the  six  days  preceding  the  Day  of  Runing,  &  paying  Twenty 
Shillings  Entrance.^' 

For  Tuesday  night,  January  7,  17 17-8,  Judge  Sewall  re- 
corded, "The  Gov'  has  a  Ball  at  his  own  House  that  lasts 
to  3  in  the  Morn,"^^  Such  items  show  the  tendency  of  the 
time,  as  do  also  the  growing  popularity  of  the  taverns  and 
coffee-houses,  the  increase  in  numbers  and  wealth  of  the 
silversmiths,  and  the  laments  of  such  men  as  Cotton  Mather 
over  the  degeneracy  from  the  better  days  of  old. 

These  years  saw  also  the  establishment  and  development 
of  the  newspaper  upon  English  models.  A  single  issue  of  a 
paper  called  Publick  Occurrences  had  appeared  before  the 
end  of  the  previous  century,  but  the  paper  was  promptly 
suppressed  by  the  authorities.    On  Monday,  April  24,  1704, 

='  Letter-Book,  ii.  29.      Sewall  quotes  passages  from  Ovid  to  illustrate. 
3"  Winthrop  Papers,  vi.  310. 

3'  A  notice  of  another  horse  race  at  Cambridge  is  reprinted  in  Publications 
of  the  Colonial  Society  of  Massachusetts,  xiv.  408. 
3'  Diary,  iii.  158.     Samuel  Shute  was  governor  at  this  time. 


Other  Phases  of  Culture.  203 

appeared  the  first  number  of  The  Boston  News-Letter^  pub- 
lished by  John  Campbell,  postmaster.  When  William 
Brooker  succeeded  Campbell  as  postmaster,  one  of  his  first 
acts  was  to  establish  a  new  weekly.  The  Boston  Gazette, 
begun  December  21,  17 19.  These  were  poor  enough  as 
newspapers,  printing  little  but  news  items  taken  from 
London  papers  whenever  the  latter  were  accessible,  and  at 
other  times  filling  in  with  local  news,  reports  of  speeches  in 
provincial  legislatures,  or  anything  available." 

James  Franklin  was  the  printer  of  Brooker's  Gazette. 
After  forty  numbers  Brooker  sold  the  paper  to  Philip  Mus- 
grave,  who  succeeded  him  as  postmaster.  When  Musgrave 
employed  Samuel  Kneeland  as  printer  instead  of  Franklin, 
the  latter,  "encouraged  by  a  number  of  respectable  charac- 
ters, who  were  desirous  of  having  a  paper  of  a  different  cast 
from  those  then  published  ....  began  the  publication, 
at  his  own  risk,  of  a  third  newspaper,  entitled,  The  New 
England  CourantJ"^^  This  paper  was  not  founded  just  to 
furnish  news;  its  purpose  was  to  provide  readable  essays 
on  the  order  of  those  which  had  made  the  Spectator  and  its 
successors  popular.  Franklin  had  served  his  apprenticeship 
in  London  previous  to  the  year  17 17,  when  he  set  up  his 
press  in  Boston,  and  thus  had  come  in  touch  with  the 
English  journalism  and  literature  of  the  day.  The  nature 
of  the  articles  published  in  the  Courant  must  be  left  until 
the  next  chapter  for  discussion.  The  point  that  should  be 
emphasized  here,  as  the  last  evidence  of  the  culture  reached 
at  this  time  in  New  England,  is  the  fact  that  Franklin  felt 
that  there  was  sufficient  interest  in  literature,  as  apart  from 
news,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Boston,  to  warrant  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  paper  without  news,  and  in  competition  with 
two  established  newspapers.  The  success  of  his  paper 
proved  that  he  was  right.    Thus  we  find  within  a  year  after 

"  For  details  in  regard  to  colonial  newspapers  see  Elizabeth  C.  Cook's  "Liter- 
ary Influences  in  Colonial  Newspapers,"  from  which  much  of  the  material  in  these 
paragraphs  is  taken. 

3<  Thomas,  History  of  Printing,  i.  i  lo. 


204     Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

the  close  of  the  first  century  of  New  England,  if  we  reckon 
from  the  founding  of  Plymouth,  and  several  years  before 
the  end  of  the  first  century  of  Boston's  existence,  a  deliberate 
and  recognized  literary  organ  which  reflected  the  growing 
literary  culture  of  the  colonists,  even  if  it  did  not,  as  we 
shall  see,  accurately  mirror  contemporary  literary  taste. 


chapter  XI V:  The  Production  of  Literature. 


THE  literary  movement  which  was  beginning  in  and 
around  Boston  at  the  end  of  the  seventeenth 
century''  developed  more  rapidly  after  the  new 
century  opened.  The  central  figure  in  this  movement  was 
Samuel  Sewall,  who,  although  he  has  no  fame  as  a  writer 
of  poetry/  wrote  considerable  verse,  both  Latin  and  English. 
His  Latin  verses  were  sufficiently  well  known  in  Boston  in 
the  first  year  of  the  century  to  call  forth  a  burlesque. ^ 
Sewall  was  less  interested  in  English  poetry,''  and  yet  some 
of  his  verses  in  English  are  not  without  merit.  His  penchant 
was  epigrammatic  verse,  the  following  lines  on  the  death  of 
Tom  Child,  the  painter,  being  perhaps  the  best  example 
of  his  art. 

Tom  Child  had  often  painted  Death, 
But  never  to  the  Life,  before: 
Doing  it  now,  he's  out  of  Breath; 
He  paints  it  once,  and  paints  no  more.^ 

Others  who  were  interested  with  Sewall  in  the  writing  of 
poetry  were  Richard  Henchman,  Nicholas  Noyes,  Nehemiah 
Hobart,  Experience  Mayhew,  and  a  Mr.  Bayly.     It  is  not 

'  See  p.  i68,  above. 

'  He  is  not  mentioned  as  a  writer  of  poetry  by  sucii  historians  of  American 
poetry  as  Moses  Coit  Tyler  and  William  B.  Otis,  or  in  the  Cambridge  History  of 
American  Literature.  This  is  true  also  of  the  literary  friends  of  Sewall  mentioned 
in  the  text  (see  above),  with  the  exception  of  Noyes. 

3  Sewall  recorded  in  his  diary.  May  29,  1701,  "This  day  a  Burlesqe  comes  out 
upon  Hull-street,  in  a  Travestie  construing  my  Latin  verses."     (Diary,  ii.  35.) 

*  In  one  of  his  letters  to  Richard  Henchman,  Sewall  wrote,  "It  is  convenient  to 
sing  the  Downfall  of  Babylon,  in  verses  that  will  stand."  As  the  accompanying 
verses  are  in  Latin,  it  is  evident  that  Sewall  chose  that  rather  than  English  for 
work  which  he  considered  important  and  desired  to  have  endure.  (Letter-Book, 
i.318.) 

*  Diary,  ii.  170.  November  10,  1706.  The  verses  are  prefaced  by  the  statement, 
"This  morning  Tom  Child,  the  Painter,  died." 


2o6     Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

possible  to  determine  whether  these  men  ever  came  together 
as  a  group  for  mutual  encouragement  in  literary  work;  but 
it  is  evident  that  Sewall  kept  in  touch  with  the  literary 
work  which  all  of  them  were  doing,  encouraged  them,  and 
both  criticized  their  verses  and  sent  his  own  to  them  for 
criticism.^  This  group  did  not  produce  any  body  of  good 
verse,  because  none  of  its  members  had  any  real  talent  for 
poetry;  but  that  they  made  the  effort  to  produce,  and  that 
they  encouraged  each  other's  efforts,  shows  that  literary 
culture  in  New  England  had  reached  the  creative  stage. 

There  were  still  many  things  to  handicap  literary  develop- 
ment. The  most  important  of  these  was  the  lack  of  suitable 
means  of  publishing  short  or  occasional  poems,  such  as  these 
men  usually  wrote.  If  we  may  judge  by  the  poems  that 
have  survived,  or  of  which  we  have  record,  no  one  of  these 
men  produced  enough  for  a  volume  of  poems.  The  news- 
papers of  Boston  printed  practically  no  poetry  until  after 
1720.7     Therefore  the  only  means  of  publication  was  the 

'  Sewall's  Verses  upon  the  New  Century,  bearing  the  date  of  January  i,  1700-01, 
brought  immediate  response  from  Henchman  in  a  long  and  effusive  poem  in  praise 
of  Sewall,  dated  January  2,  1700-01.  To  Henchman,  Sewall  wrote,  February  24, 
1703-04,  "Sir, — I  send  home  your  Verses  with  Thanks.  There  are  many  good 
strokes  in  them:  but  in  my  mind,  the  English  excell.  I  think — dominantur  un- 
diq\^u\e  fraudes,  does  not  well  end  a  verse;  the  last  syllable  in  [^Dominantur]  is 
short  by  Rule."  (Letter-Book,  i.  293.)  He  wrote  to  Henchman  in  1705,  "It  is 
convenient  to  sing  the  Downfall  of  Babylon,  in  verses  that  will  stand:  let  me  there- 
fore have  your  Examination  and  censure  of  the  following  Distich  .  .  .  .  " 
(Letter-Book,  i.  318.)  At  about  the  same  time  he  wrote  to  Nicholas  Noyes,  "Sir, 
— How  am  I  ready  to  sink  down  into  ingratitude  on  a  sudden,  and  unawares! 
My  Brother  in  a  Letter  had  raised  my  Expectation  of  receiving  a  distich  or  2  from 
you;  and  the  disapointment  puts  me  out  of  Tune."  [He  adds  an  apposite  quota- 
tion from  Ovid.]  (Letter-Book,  i.  315.)  On  March  27,  171 2,  Nehemiah  Hobart 
addressed  a  Latin  poem  of  thirty-seven  lines  to  Sewall,  who  sent  to  Hobart  in 
acknowledgement  of  the  compliment  a  copy  of  Virgil:  "I  give  him  Virgil  on 
account  of  the  Poem  he  has  gratify'd  me  with."  (Diary,  ii.  346.)  This  was  soon 
turned  into  English  verse  by  Henchman.  (Letter-Book,  i.  314  note  2,  which  gives 
both  Latin  and  English  versions.)  Evidence  of  his  interest  in  the  poetry  of  Bayly 
and  Mayhew  is  given  in  note  8  on  page  207,  below. 

7  A  very  few  times  the  News-Letter  reprinted  from  English  papers  articles  which 
included  lines  of  verse.  One  four  line  Latin  epigram  by  Sewall,  published  in  the 
News-Letter  in  1705,  is  the  only  original  poem  which  I  have  been  able  to  find  in 


The  Production  of  Literature.  207 

broadside,  and  in  this  form  some  of  the  verses  of  these  men 
appeared.  Other  poems  that  circulated  did  so  in  manu- 
script. Sewall  seems  to  have  been  as  interested  in  the  cir- 
culation of  these  poems  as  in  their  production,  and  there- 
fore in  a  double  sense  was  the  center  of  this  literary  move- 
ment.^ 

One  poem  by  Richard  Henchman  may  indicate  the  exist- 
ence of  literary  patronage  in  Boston  at  this  time.  This 
poem,  entitled  "Vox  Oppressi,"'  was  addressed  to  the  Lady 

the  papers  before  1720,  and  we  have  Sewall's  testimony  (Diary,  ii.  149)  that  it 
was  with  difficulty  that  he  persuaded  John  Campbell  to  print  it. 

*  The  following  quotations  show  Sewall's  custom  of  enclosing  poetry  in  his 
letters.  It  should  be  noted  that  some  of  the  poems  were  evidently  printed  as 
broadsides.  "This  day  I  made  this  Distich  ....  [omitted].  Gave  them  and 
two  more  to  Mr.  Phips  at  Charlestown."  (Diary,  ii.  140.  October,  1705.)  "In 
my  Letter  I  inclosed  a  News-Letter,  two  Copies  of  Mr.  Bayly's  Verses,  Babylon  is 
fallen."  (Letter-Book,  i.  351.  August,  1707.)  "Writ  ....  to  Mr.  Moodey 
....  [enclosed]  this  day's  News-Letter;  Two  Setts  of  Verses;  Libels,  and 
proceeding  thereupon.  Vindicated  Glascow.  Sent  p  Capt.  Lyon  to  whom  I 
gave  Mr.  Danforth,  and  Mayhew's  Verses."  (Letter-Book,  i.  408.  December, 
1710.)  "To  Sir  Charles  Hobby  ....  inclosing  ....  2  of  Mr.  Mayhew's 
Poems  on  daughter  Gerrish."  (Letter-Book,  i.  412.  171 1.  Sewall's  daughter, 
Mrs.  Gerrish,  died  in  1710.)  "To  Mr.  Joseph  Lord  ....  Sent  him  .... 
One  Consolations,  Frenches  Verses,  My  verses  on  the  Taking  of  Port-Royal. 
4.  Mr.  Mayhew's  verses;  i  Mr.  Danforth  on  Daughter  Gerrishes  Death."  (Letter- 
Book,  i.  408.  February,  1710-11.)  "I  visit  Mr.  Wadsworth  ....  Give  a 
verse  to  him  and  to  Mr.  Pemberton."  (Diary,  ii.  359.  August,  1712.)  "Left  the 
Gov""  two  of  Mr,  Hobart's  verses  ....  Gave  Mr.  Colman  one  of  Mr.  Hobart's 
verses."  (Diary,  ii.  360-1.  August,  171 2.  These  would  seem  to  be  printed  copies 
of  the  Latin  poem  to  Sewall  to  which  reference  has  been  made  on  page  206,  note 
6.)  "Writ  to  Mr.  Williams  of  Derefield,  inclosed  .  .  .  my  Verses  on  Merrimak 
River  finish'd  yesterday."  (Diary,  iii.  240.  January  16,  1719-20.)  "Inclosed 
Merrimak  dry'd  up,  with  the  occasion  of  it  .  .  .  .  Inclosed  6.  of  Mr.  Hobart's 
printed  verses."  (To  Timothy  Woodbridge,  February  i,  1719-20.  Letter-Book, 
ii.  104.)  "Merrymak  is  printed  off,  about  300.  I  give  Sam.  Mather  two  of  them." 
(Diary,  iii.  279.  February,  1720-21.  This  poem  is  printed  in  the  Proceedings  of 
the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  2d  Series,  ix.  8.)  "Sent  ....  Mr.  Ho- 
bart's Verses — Node  viator."  (To  Edward  Taylor,  February  16,  1719-20.  Letter- 
Book,  ii.  105.)  "Mr.  Prince  and  I  go  next  the  Relations.  I  gave  him  Merrimack; 
he  desired  me  to  give  him  copies  of  all  my  performances."  (Diary,  iii.  283.  March 
7,  1720-21.)  "Having  only  one  Renatus  by  me,  I  have  inclos'd  it,  &  a  copy  or 
two  of  Judge  Lynde's  verses."  (To  John  Winthrop,  January  8,  1725-6.  Winthrop 
Papers,  vi.  422.) 

»  Preserved  in  manuscript  in  the  Boston  Public  Library. 


2o8      Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

Phipps,  the  wealthy  widow  of  the  former  governor  to  express 
the  poet's  gratitude  for  a  gift  of  money.  As  further  evidence 
is  lacking,  it  is  impossible  to  say  whether  the  gift  was  to 
encourage  Henchman's  poetical  efforts,  or  to  reward  him 
for  some  poem  in  Lady  Phipps'  honor  or  in  honor  of  her 
husband,  or  merely  charity;  but  the  tone  of  the  poem  seems 
to  be  that  of  poet  to  patron. 

Outside  of  the  group  of  Sewall's  friends  there  were  several 
who  were  writing  verse,  some  for  their  own  amusement, 
others  for  publication.  Of  the  first  class,  the  most  interest- 
ing is  Sarah  Kemble  Knight,  whose  journal  of  her  trip  from 
Boston  to  New  York  in  1704  owes  much  of  its  charm  to  the 
rhymes  which  furnished  her  a  means  to  express  privately 
the  feelings  which  she  could  not  express  in  public.'"  Her 
satirical  humor  is  matched  by  that  of  other  poets  of  the  day, 
of  varying  merit  as  poets,  but  deliberately  satirical."    Such 

•"  "  But  I  could  get  no  sleep,  because  of  the  Clamor  of  some  of  the  Town  tope-ers 
in  next  Room,  .  .  .  .  I  set  my  Candle  on  a  Chest  by  the  bed  side,  and  setting 
[j;V]  up,  fell  to  my  old  way  of  composing  my  Resentments,  in  the  following  manner: 

/  ask  thy  Aid,  0  Potent  Rum! 

To  Charm  these  wrangling  Topers  Dum. 

Thou  hast  their  Giddy  Brains  possest — 

The  man  confounded  w'^  the  Beast — 

And  J,  poor  I,  can  get  no  rest. 

Intoxicate  them  with  thy  fumes: 

0  still  their  Tongues  till  morning  comes!" 

(The  Journal  of  Madam  Knight,  p.  38.) 

Being  refused  accommodation  at  the  house  of  a  Mr.  Devill,  she  wrote  the  fol- 
lowing warning  to  other  travelers: 

"May  all  that  dread  the  cruel feind  of  night 
Keep  on,  and  not  at  this  curs' t  Mansion  light. 
'Tis  Hell;  'tis  Hell!  and  Devills  here  do  dwell: 
Here  dwells  the  Devill — surely  this's  Hell. 
Nothing  but  Wants:  a  drop  to  cool  yo'r  Tongue 
Cant  he  procur'd  these  cruel  Feinds  among. 
Plenty  of  horrid  Grins  and  looks  sevear. 
Hunger  and  thirst,  But  pitty's  bannish'd  here — 
The  Right  hand  keep,  if  Hell  on  Earth  you  fear! 

{Ibid.,  p.  40.) 

"  Sewall  recorded  in  his  Letter-Book  (i.'  255)  a  satire  upon  "The  Gospel 
Order  Revived"  (an   answer   by   Benjamin  Colman   and   his  friends  to  Increase 


The  Production  of  Literature.  209 

satire  may  reflect  the  growth  of  English  satirical  poetry 
during  the  latter  part  of  the  seventeenth  century  and  at  the 
opening  of  the  eighteenth.  John  Danforth,  who  had  written 
some  verses  for  his  own  almanacs  at  an  earlier  date,  printed 
a  poem  a  page  in  length  at  the  end  of  his  published  lecture 

Mather's  "The  Order  of  the  Gospel")  which  was  being  circulated  at  Plymouth 
(March  1701).    Part  of  the  poem  follows: 


The  old  strait  Gate  is  now  out  of  Date, 

The  street  it  must  be  broad; 

And  the  Bridge  must  be  wood,  tho  not  half  so  good 

As  firm  Stone  in  the  Road. 


Saints  Cotton  t?  Hooker,  0  look  down,  £5?  look  here 
Where's  Platform,  Way  &  the  Keys? 
O  Torey  what  story  of  Brattle  Church  Twattle, 
To  have  things  as  they  please 

Our  Merchants  cum  Mico  do  stand  Sacro  Vico; 
Our  Churches  turn  genteel: 

Parsons  grow  trim  and  trigg  with  wealth  wine  &  wigg 
And  their  crowns  are  coverd  with  meal. 

A  better  satire  is  John  Banister's  on  Cotton  Mather's  degree  of  Doctor  of  Di- 
vinity from  Glasgow  University,  also  found  in  Sewall's  Letter-Book  (i.  407.  No- 
vember, 1710),  Increase  Mather  having  loaned  him  a  copy  of  it. 

ON  C.  M^'*  DIPLOMA. 
The  mad  enthusiast,  thirsting  after  fame. 
By  endless  volum'ns  [sic]  thought  to  raise  a  name. 
With  undigested  trash  he  throngs  the  Press; 
Thus  striving  to  be  greater,  he's  the  less. 
But  he,  in  spight  of  infamy,  writes  on. 
And  draws  new  Cullies  in  to  be  undone. 
Warm'd  with  paternal  vanity,  he  trys 
For  new  Suscriptions,  while  the  Embryo*  lyes 
Neglected — Parkhurst]  says.  Satis  fecisti. 
My  belly's  full  of  your  Magnalia  Christi. 
Tour  crude  Divinity,  and  History 
Will  not  with  a  censorious  age  agree. 

*  His  2  volumus  [j;V] — Sewall's  note.  The  reference  is  undoubtedly  to  Mather's 
Biblia  Americana,  which  Mather  several  times  vainly  endeavored  to  publish  by 
subscription.     It  is  still  in  existence — unprinted. 

f  Parkhurst  was  the  London  bookseller  who  published  the  Magnalia. 


2 1  o     Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

"The  Right  Christian  Temper  in  every  Condition."'^  Cot- 
ton Mather  wrote  several  poems,  found  in  his  diary  and  else- 
where, most  of  which  show  more  poetical  feeling  and  ex- 
pression than  do  the  poems  which  he  published  in  the 
"Magnalia."'^  Samuel  Wigglesworth,  son  of  the  author  of 
"The  Day  of  Doom,"  wrote  one  long  poem,  "A  Funeral 
Song,"'''  which,  in  spite  of  its  title,  in  no  way  resembles  the 
elegies  of   the  earlier   periods,  but  on   the  contrary  shows 

Dazd  with  the  stoVn  title  of  his  SireX 

To  be  a  Doctor  he  is  all  on  fire; 

Would  after  him,  the  Sacrilege  commit 

But  that  the  Keeper  s  care  doth  him  affright. % 

To  Britain's  northern  Clime  in  haste  he  sends. 

And  begs  an  Independent  boon  from  Presbyterian  friends; 

Rather  than  be  without,  he'd  beg  it  of  the  Fiends. 

Facetious  George  brought  him  this  Libertie 

To  write  C.  Mather  first,  and  then  D.  D. 

Another  satire,  less  poetical  but  very  bold,  appeared  in  1717.  To  quote  Sewall, 
"  .  .  .  .a  virulent  Libel  was  starch'd  on  upon  the  Three  Doors  of  the  Meeting 
House  [the  New  South],  containing  the  following  Words; 

TO  ALL  TRUE-HEARTED  CHRISTIANS. 
Good  people,  within  this  House,  this  very  day, 
A  Canting  Crew  will  meet  to  fast,  and  pray. 
Just  as  the  miser  fasts  with  greedy  mind,  to  spare; 
So  the  glutton  fasts,  to  eat  a  greater  share. 
But  the  sower-headed  Presbyterians  fast  to  seem  more  holy. 
And  their  Canting  Ministers  to  punish  sinfullfoley." 

(Diary,  iii.  116.) 

Still  another  satirical  poem,  which  has  disappeared,  is  mentioned  in  Thomas' 
list  for  1714  (History  of  Printing,  ii.  372)  under  the  title  "Origin  of  the  Whale- 
bone petticoat."     A  Satyr  (In  Verse).    Boston,  August  2d,  1714. 

X  Increase  Mather's  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  had  been  conferred  upon  him 
through  his  own  influence  at  a  time  when  it  is  questionable  whether  Harvard  had 
the  right  to  confer  such  a  degree.    His  enemies  criticized  him  for  accepting  it. 

§  Leverett — Sewall's  note.  President  Leverett  belonged  to  the  party  un- 
friendly to  the  Mathers. 

"  Published  at  Boston,  1702.  He  also  wrote  a  poem  upon  the  death  of  Elder 
Hopestill,  of  Dorchester,  in  171 9.     See  Memoirs  of  Roger  Clap,  p.  v. 

'3  See  his  Diary,  i.  450;  ii.  138,  786;  and  Kettell,  Specimens  of  American  Poetry, 

i.  14- 

"•  Printed  in  full  in  the  New  England  Historical  and  Genealogical  Register,  iv.  89, 
and  in  part  in  Tyler,  History  of  American  Literature,  ii.  36  ff. 


The  Production  of  Literature.  21 1 

greater  poetical  imagination  than  do  his  father's  poems.  In 
1713  Richard  Steere  of  Connecticut  and  Long  Island  brought 
out  at  Boston  a  ninety-page  volume  of  verse  under  the  title 
of  "The  Daniel  Catcher."^s 

The  last  named  volume  deserves  especial  attention,  not 
for  the  fifty-three  page  biblical  poem  in  .rhymed  couplets, 
of  the  familiar  colonial  type,  from  which  thevohnrp&^ets 
its  title,  but  for  three  of  the  shorter  poems  included  in  the 
volume.  The  first  of  these  is  a  nineteen  page  poem  in  blank 
verse.  The  blank  verse  is  not  very  good,  but  unique  in  the 
colonial  poetry  of  the  period,  and  unusual  in  any  English 
poetry  of  the  time,  there  being  practically  no  non-dramatic 
blank  verse  from  Milton  to  Thomjjson.  The  second,  a  poem 
on  the  visit  of  the  angels  to  Bethlehem  at  the  birth  of  the 
Saviour,  is  interesting  for  its  echo  of  Milton's  "Hymn"  in  "On 
the  Morning  of  Christ's  Nativity."  The  theme  is  the  same, 
although  treated  differently,  and  the  metre  resembles  Mil- 
ton's in  its  regular  stanza  form  with  the  Alexandrine  at  the 
end  of  each  stanza;  it  differs  in  having  an  added  line  instead 
of  the  longer  third  and  sixth  lines  of  Milton's.  The  resem- 
blance is  not  remarkable,  but  it  is  difficult  to  believe  that 
the  writerwas  not  influenced,  even  if  not  inspired,  by  Milton. 
If  so,  thi  iss  the  first  colonial  poem  which  shows  such  influ- 
ence. The  third  poem  deserves  quotation  here  as  showing 
more  poetic  feeling  than  most  of  the  contemporary  poetry, 
and  even  more  as  an  instance  of  an  appreciation  of  nature 
at  a  time  when  sincere  appreciation  of  nature  was  practically 
unknown  in  English  poetry  on  either  side  of  the  ocean. 

ON  A  SEASrORM  NIGH  THE  COAST. 

All  round  the  Horizon  black  Clouds  appear 

A  Storm  is  near: 
Darkness  Eclipseth  the  Sereener  Sky, 
The  Winds  are  high, 

's  Printed  in  full  in  Littlefield,  Early  Massachusetts  Press,  ii.  This  was  his  second 
volume  of  verse.  His  first,  A  Monumental  Memorial  of  Marine  Mercy,  was  pub^ 
lished  in  Boston,  1684. 


212     Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

Making  the  Surface  of  the  Ocean  Show 
Like  mountains  Lofty,  and  like  Vallies  Low. 

The  weighty  Seas  are  rowled  from  the  Deeps 

In  mighty  heaps, 
And  from  the  Rocks  Foundations  do  arise 

To  Kiss  the  Skies: 
Wave  after  Wave  in  Hills  each  other  Crowds, 
As  if  the  Deeps  resolv'd  to  Storm  the  Clouds. 

How  did  the  Surging  Billows  Fome  and  Rore 

Against  the  Shore 
Threatning  to  bring  the  Land  under  their  power 

And  it  Devour: 
Those  Liquid  Mountains  on  the  Clifts  were  hurld 
As  to  a  Chaos  they  would  shake  the  World. 

The  Earth  did  Literpose  the  Prince  of  Light 

Twas  Sable  nigh[tl 
All  Darkness  was  but  when  the  Lightnings  fly 

And  Light  the  Sky, 
Night,  Thunder,  Lightning,  Rain,  &  raging  Wind, 
To  make  a  Storm  had  all  their  forces  joyn'd. 

Such  verse  writers  as  these  were  responsible  for  the  in- 
creased interest  in  literature  during  the  early  years  of  the 
century,  and  prepared  the  way  for  the  even  greater  activity 
to  follow  when  the  influence  of  The  Spectator  and  similar 
papers  and  of  Pope  and  his  contemporaries  should  be  felt 
in  New  England.  That  the  colonists  so  soon  reacted  to  the 
literary  movements  in  England  may  have  been  because  of 
the  work  of  these  people,  poor  as  it  was  in  itself.  As  early 
as  1714  Cotton  Mather  was  ready  to  attempt  essays  of  the 
Spectator  type;'^  and  as  soon  as  a  vehicle  was  provided  in 
The  New  England  Courant  there  were  many  who  were  eager 
to  contribute.'^    The  essays  in  the  Courant  were  the  work 

'*  See  p.  194,  above. 

'7  An  indication  of  the  eagerness  to  contribute  either  to  the  Courant,  or,  for  the 
more  conservative,  to  the  News-Letter  or  Gazette,  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  one  of 


The  Production  of  Literature.  2 1  3 

of  a  group  of  men  sufficiently  organized  so  that  John  Camp- 
bell, publisher  of  The  Boston  News-Letter^  disgruntled  at  the 
success  of  a  new  rival,  and  perhaps  offended  by  the  atheistic 
or  deistic  tone  of  the  essays,  gave  them  the  name  by  which 
they  have  ever  since  been  known,  the  Hell-Fire  Club,  that 
being  the  name  of  a  London  atheist  club  of  unsavory  repute. 
Isaiah  Thomas  speaks  of  the  group  as  "a  society  of  gentle- 
men."'* The  essays  in  the  Courant  were  quickly  answered 
by  essays  in  the  News-Letter  and  Gazette;  and  for  several 
years  public  questions  of  the  day,  such  as  inoculation,  were 
debated.  Several  months  after  the  Courant  ceased  publi- 
cation in  1726,  The  New  England  Weekly  Journal  was  begun. 
This,  like  the  Courant^  was  the  organ  of  a  group  of  men 
whose  purposes  were  definitely  literary.  This  group  includ- 
ed such  young  writers  as  Mather  Byles,  Thomas  Prince, 
Judge  Danforth,'9  and  probably  Matthew  Adams,  formerly 
associated  with  the  Courant.^°  The  name  "Proteus  Echo" 
was  assumed  for  the  editor,  as  "Old  Janus"  had  been  used 
in  the  Courant,  both  in  obvious  imitation  of  the  Spectator. 
Both  journals  printed  verse  as  well  as  prose,  and  both  fre- 
quently lightened  the  work  of  their  writers  by  reprinting 
from  English  periodicals."  The  chief  poet  of  the  Journal 
was  Mather  Byles,  whose  style  bears  witness  to  his  admira- 
tion of  Pope's  poetry." 

Another  illustration  of  the  colonial  response  to  English 
literary  movements,  as  well  as  an  illustration  of  increasing 
interest  in  the  production  of  literature,  is  found  in  a  manu- 

the  several  verse  contributions  which  Sewall  sent  to  the  News-Letter  was  an  adap- 
tation of  a  poem  which  he  had  written  in  1676.  It  was  published  in  the  News- 
Letter  for  March  28,  1723,  having  waited  nearly  fifty  years  for  a  suitable  medium 
for  publication.  It  was  evidently  recalled  by  Sewall  when  he  was  seeking  material 
to  contribute.     (Diary,  i.  27;  iii.  320  note.) 

'*  History  of  Printing,  ii.  31. 

^^  Ibid..,  ii.  41,  42. 

^''  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Collections,  v.  211  note. 

"  Cook,  Literary  Influences  in  Colonial  Newspapers,  Chapters  I  and  II,  where 
much  detail  is  given. 


2  14      Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

script  volume  recently  acquired  by  the  Harvard  Library," 
This  volume,  in  the  handwriting  of  Ebenezer  Turell,  contains 
thirteen  numbers  of  a  student  periodical,  modeled  after  the 
Spectator^  which  evidently  circulated  in  manuscript.  The 
periodical  is  called  The  Telltale^  and  most  of  its  papers  are 
signed  by  Telltale.  One  paper  gives  an  account  of  the 
"Telltale  alias  Spy  Club — w^''  consists  of  these  Six  members: 
Telltale,  Blablonge,  Sharpsights,  Courage,  Intelligence, 
Quick."  Verse  is  found  in  one  of  the  papers.  Of  this  volume 
Mr.  Lane  writes,  "It  is  the  earliest  college  production  of  the 
kind  of  which  I  have  any  information."  That  Harvard 
preceded  any  English  college  in  attempting  periodical  litera- 
ture is  striking  evidence  of  the  awakening  to  literary  activity 
in  New  England  in  the  first  quarter  of  the  eighteenth  century. 

There  are  other  indications  of  the  literary  tendency  of  the 
time.  In  1724  T.  Fleet  published  "The  Indictment  and 
Tryal  of  Sir  Richard  Rum,"  a  clever  temperance  tract  with 
literary  merit.  In  1725  Nathaniel  Ames  began  his  "Alma- 
nac," which  differed  from  the  earlier  almanacs  both  in  its 
use  of  the  best  English  poetry  (whereas  earlier  almanacs 
printed  third  rate  original  verse),  and  in  its  blending  of  wit 
and  wisdom  in  effective  phrases,  wherein  Ames  anticipated 
Franklin's  "Poor  Richard."  From  now  on  the  almanac 
yearly  carried  real  literature  into  every  home. 

It  must  be  admitted  that  most  of  the  literature  produced 
during  this  period  is  unsatisfactory.  The  imitations  of  the 
Spectator  do  not  measure  up  to  their  model.  The  imitators 
of  Pope  may  have  caught  the  trick  of  his  verse,  but  they  lack 
both  his  brilliant  wit  and  his  poetic  power.  That  the  colo- 
nists did  not  succeed  in  their  attempts  is  much  less  important, 
however,  than  the  fact  that  they  made  the  effort,  and  that 
at  the  end  of  the  first  century  of  colonization  the  effort  was 
a  general  one,  not  limited  to  a  few  ministers  or  to  the  edu- 

"  This  volume  is  described  in  detail  in  a  paper  by  William  C.  Lane,  Librarian 
of  Harvard,  read  before  the  Colonial  Society  of  Massachusetts.  (Publications  of 
the  Colonial  Society  of  Massachusetts,  xii.  220.) 


The  Production  of  Literature.  2  i  5 

cated  class.  The  leaders  in  the  movement  to  establish  lit- 
erary journalism  had  been  James  Franklin,  whose  education 
had  been  merely  that  of  a  printer's  apprentice,  and  Matthew 
Adams,  whom  Benjamin  Franklin  describes  as  "an  ingenious 
tradesman. "^^  Benjamin  Franklin  himself  was  only  a  self- 
educated  printer's  apprentice,  and  a  mere  boy  as  well,  yet 
he  also  came  under  the  influence  of  the  Spectator  and  at- 
tempted essays  with  such  success  that  the  Dogood  papers, 
begun  in  the  Courant  early  in  1722,  when  Franklin  was 
hardly  sixteen,  were  among  the  most  literary  essays  which 
that  periodical  published.  Unquestionably  we  owe  the  writ- 
ings of  the  greatest  American  writer  of  the  eighteenth  century 
to  the  literary  movement  which  developed  in  New  England 
and  centered  in  Boston  about  the  year  1720,  as  if  to  com- 
memorate the  one-hundredth  anniversary  of  the  establish- 
ment of  English  civilization  in  New  England. 

*3  Autobiography,  p.  22. 


Appendix. 


THE  Appendix  had  not  been  completed  by  the  author 
and  as  it  stands  now  does  not  include^  by  any  meanSy 
all  of  the  material  which  he  had  gathered  j or  possible 
publication  in  this  volume.  Owing  to  lack  of  space  the  editor 
has  omitted  the  catalogues  of  libraries  belonging  to  William 
Bradford^  'Thomas  Dudley^  Samuel  Eaton,  Cotton  Mather, 
Increase  Mather,  Thomas  Prince,  Miles  Standish,  William 
Tyng,  John  Winthrop,  Jr.  These  lists  may  be  found  in  Mr. 
Wright's  manuscript  at  the  Tale  University  Library. 


Appendix. 

Items  Illustrating  the  Movement  of  Books  to 
and  among  New  Kn glanders, 

HERE  is  the  Young  Clerks  Guide,  with  the  Banquet  of  Jests." 
Nov.  30.     I  was  at  Boston,  bought  Diodati's  Annotations.^ 

Also  I  have  desired  &  obtained  of  Major  Bradford,  a  Booke  in 
folio  written  by  his  father,  which  I  shall  send  by  the  first  oppor- 
tunity by  water;  if  I  cannot  send  it  by  land.  The  Journall  of 
Plimouth  beginnings^  I  could  send  you,  but  I  thinke  it  needs  not, 
for  you  told  me  some  passages  in  it;  whence  I  conclude  you  have 
that  booke.  Major  Bradford  hath  another  printed  Booke,  which 
he  thinks  would  well  contribute  to  you.  Its  title  is  Good  Newes 
from  P.  in  N:  E:''  But  he  cannot  finde  it.^  [A  postscript  reports 
it  found.] 

I  can  only  tell  you  that  I  have  sent  yo""  book  (this  being  the 
first  since  I  wrote  to  you  last)  &  returne  you  a  thousand  thancks 
for  y^  use  of  y*^  same.^ 

Mr.  Shove  was  this  day  at  my  house;  as  he  passed  along  to 
Barnstable,  (for  your  booke  he  thankes  you)    .... 

Yours  I  received  &  the  bookes,  7  of  those  which  came  first  are 
sold  at  Bridgewater;   I  will  endeavour  to  sell  as  fast  as  I  can.* 

'  Thomas  Johnson  of  London  to  Marmaduke  Johnson,  the  printer,  April  23, 
1663.     Littlefield,  Early  Massachusetts  Press,  i.  225. 

^  Diary  of  Rev.  William  Adams  of  Dedham,  1670.  Massachusetts  Historical 
Society,  Collections,  4th  Series,  i.  15. 

3  The  Journall  is  probably  the  so-called  Mourt's  Relation.  The  "Booke  in  folio" 
is  Bradford's  famous  History  of  Plymouth.  Mather  is  borrowing  these  as  mate- 
rial for  his  own  history  of  New  England. 

■»  Good  News  from  New  England,  1624,  by  Edward  Winslow. 

s  John  Cotton  to  Increase  Mather,  from  Plymouth,  November  24, 1676.  Mather 
Papers,  p.  229. 

^  Giles  Sylvester,  Jr.,  of  South-ton,  to  Fitz-John  Winthrop,  March  9,  1677. 
Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Proceedings,  2d  Series,  iv.  286.  In  another 
letter  (August  19,  1677)  he  refers  to  a  book,  evidently  on  heraldry,  by  Gwillim, 
which  he  has  had  and  returned. 

'  John  Cotton  to  Increase  Mather,  June  25,  1677.    Mather  Papers,  p.  239. 

*  John  Cotton  to  Increase  Mather,  October  20,  1677.  Ibid.,  p.  239.  The  books 
referred  to  are  probably  Mather's  account  of  the  troubles  with  the  Indians  (1677), 


2  20      Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

If  you  have  Gorsius  works  by  you,  doe  so  much  as  send  out  a 
discours  which  is  as  I  remember  about  a  quarter  or  3  part  of  the 
book  in  containing  Exhortations  to  young  people   .    .    .    .' 

Tell  him  wee  thanke  him  heartily  for  our  Almanacks.'" 

I  perceive  you  have  come  in  the  way  of  sundry  pieces  of  the 
Firtuosi."  ....  I  would  earnestly  entreat  you,  out  of  a  pitty  to 
a  famished  man,  to  send  me  such  treatises  historical  or  philosophi- 
cal as  you  have  by  you,  especially  that  concerning  the  designes  of 
a  French  Government  in  England.  I  shall  carefully  return  you. 
And  as  a  pledge  of  my  care,  at  last  I  now  send  you  your  Hudson. 
I  have  kept  it  long  ....  I  did  some  years  agone  see  papers 
of  weekly  edition  after  the  manner  of  the  Gazets,  under  the  name 
of  Philosophical  Observations  by  John"  Oldenburgh,  Felow  of  the 
Society.  Those  of  them  that  I  saw  contained  relations  and  pas- 
sages exceeding  worthy  the  knowledge.'^  ...  I  have  latly  seen 
a  smal  treatise  in  verse,  such  as  it  is,  not  over  Heliconian,  yet 
honest,  printed  at  Boston,  against  the  Quakers,  by  one  B.  K. 
whose  name  I  cannot  unridle ^* 

I  also  haueing  lately  rec'*  from  Ml"  Whiteing's  hand  another 
booke  &  token  of  respect,  viz:  Diatriba  de  Signo  ffilii  Hominis: 
I  know  not  what  further  returne  to  make,  but  thanks,  &c.,  unlesse 
to  adde  some  Apology  for  my  owne  indesert  of  a  Lattin  booke, 
being  growne  so  rusty  in  that  lingua^  with  wishing  it  might  be 
reprinted  in  English  for  the  benefit  of  N:  E:  Towards  the  charge 
whereof  I  shall  willingly  be  a  subscriber;  haueing  had  a  tast  of 
what  you  so  printed  about  the  Calling  of  the  Jewes;  which  I 
borrowed  &  red,  tho:   I  haue  it  not  by  me  now:'5 

Yours  I  received,  what  sent  by  Capt.  Selleck  to  myself  & 
freinds,   M"!  Wakeman    &    M'  Chauncey,  of    your    own    &    Mf 

'Joseph  Eliot  to  Increase  Mather.     1678.     Ibid.,  p.  377. 

'"John  Cotton  to  Increase  Mather,  March  12,  1679.     Ibid.,  p.  251. 

"  Probably  the  Philosophical  Conferences  of  the  Virtuosi  of  France. 

"  Really  Henry  Oldenburg. 

'3  Joseph  Eliot  of  Guilford,  Conn.,  to  Increase  Mather,  July  17,  1678.  Mather 
Papers,  p.  376.  He  goes  on  to  urge  Mather  to  send  for  these  collections,  not  know- 
ing that  the  Mathers  had  many  volumes  of  them.    See  p.  143,  below. 

'■•  B.  K.  was  Benjamin  Keach,  an  English  Non-Conformist,  whose  "The  Grand 
Impostor  Discovered:  or,  the  Quakers  Doctrine  weighed  in  the  Ballance  and  found 
wanting"  was  printed  in  Boston  by  John  Foster,  1678. 

'5  William  Leete  of  Guilford  to  Increase  Mather,  July  5,  1682.  Mather  Papers, 
pp.  621-623. 


Appendix.  221 

Hookes  good  labo".  What  was  belonging  to  me  I  kindly  accept; 
&  what  to  others,  I  have  conveyed  according  to  your  mind."^ 

I  unfeynedly  thank  you  for  your  kindnes  to  my  wife, — sending 
her  one  of  your  last  books  .    .   .  /' 

Yours  I  have  received,  with  that  further  expression  of  your  love 
to  me,  the  book  of  Remarkable  Providences,'*  for  which  I  thank 
you  ....  The  booke  you  sent  me  last  before  this  was  Mr. 
Torrey  his  sermon,  with  your  epistle  before  it.  I  received  three 
of  them;  one  for  Mr.  Hanford,  one  for  Mr.  Chauncey,  ....  & 
the  other  to  myself  ....'« 

I  Received  the  Booke  you  sent,  which  is  profitable  &  of  very 
good  use,  for  which  I  return  you  hearty  thankes  .  .  .  .^'' 

Mr.  Saltonstall  hath  a  printed  book  in  vindication  of  the  Protes- 
tants, and  Captain  Thomas  hath  many  printed  pieces  of  news. 
Could  I  obtain  them,  I  would  soon  transmit  them  to  your  honor." 

S%  I  return  you  many  thanks,  as  for  the  many  good  books 
which  you  have  sent  me,  so  I  giue  many  thanks  to  you  &  to 
good  M'  Willard   ....   for  this  booke." 

Yours  of  the  2^  of  this  instant  I  received,  &  with  it  your  good 
booke  upon  occasion  of  the  sore  persecution  of  the  Saints  in 
France  .  .  .  .^^ 

Mr.  Willard  here,  I  returned  Alsop  of  Scandal.^'* 

To  the  Rev"^  &  his  estemed  ffriend  Ml"  Increase  Mather,  at 
his  house  in  Boston,  in  New  England,  these,  together  with  a  booke. 

''  John  Bishop  of  Stamford,  Conn.,  to  Increase  Mather,  August  3,  1682.  Mather 
Papers,  p.  309.  Mr.  Wakeman  was  pastor  at  Fairfield,  and  Mr.  Chauncey  at 
Stratford. 

'7  John  Higginson  to  Increase  Mather,  February  5, 1683.    Mather  Papers,  p.  283. 

'*  By  Increase  Mather,  published  1684. 

'9  John  Bishop  to  Increase  Mather,  June  10,  1684.  Mather  Papers,  p.  312. 
Mr.  Hanford,  or  Hunford,  was  pastor  at  Norwalk. 

"  Solomon  Stoddard  of  Northampton  to  Increase  Mather.  Mather  Papers, 
p.  586.     Undated;  probably  about  1680. 

"John  Cotton  to  Governor  Hinckley,  January  13,  1681.  Massachusetts  His- 
torical Society,  Collections,  4th  Series,  v.  57. 

"Thomas  Cobbet  of  Ipswich  to  Increase  Mather,  December  13,  1681.  Mather 
Papers,  p.  292. 

"i  Thomas  Cobbet  of  Ipswich  to  Increase  Mather,  May  18,  1682.  Mather 
Papers,  p.  293. 

'•»  Sewall,  Diary,  i.  109.     About  1685. 


222     Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

....    Be  pleased  to  lend  the  litle  book  to  my  brother  to  [pe- 
ruse] if  he  desires  it.^^ 

I  received  your  letter  in  winter,  with  an  almanack  and  some 
verses,  for  all  which  I  thank  you.^^ 

I  received  the  verses  &  Almanacks  you  sent  .    .    .   .^' 
I  take  the  freedom  to  present  thee  with  a  Book.^* 
S"",  I  dare  beg  no  more  books,  but  if  you  have  any  newes  .   .   .  .^' 
Cous.  Greenleaf  sups  with  Mother.    I  give  him  the  Catechise, 
Day  of  Doom,  &c  bound  together  in  a  good  Cover  .    .    .   J" 

[Mr.  Noyce]  greatly  desires  to  see  Potter  on  the  number  666. 
It  lyes  on  my  study  Table.  I  should  bee  glad  if  you  would  bee 
pleased  to  send  it  by  M''  Grafton.-'^ 

I  must  again  desire  of  you  to  send  mee  a  Book,  viz.  my  Ames' 

Medulla.    It  stands  in  my  second  shelfe Dr.  Swinnerton 

desires  to  read  that  volume  of  the  Transactions  that  treats  of 
Volatile  Alcalies.  The  Book,  as  I  remember,  had  on  it,  before  the 
Title,  those  words  Laudanum  Hebnontii  Junioris,  written  by  your- 
selfe.  It  is  about  the  loo**^  N°.  Mf  Higginson  earnestly  desires 
to  see  Knoxes  History  of  the  Island  Ceylon  (which  lyes  on  my 
Father's  Table)  and  Taverniers  Travels.  Now  as  for  the  former 
of  them.  If  you  will  send  it  you  will  oblige  him.  Butt  as  for  the 
latter,  it  being  so  Choice  a  Book  and  so  well  bound,  that  I  should 
bee  almost  sorry  to  have  it  exposed  to  any  Damages.  Butt  if  you 
will  send  it,  I'le  take  what  Care  I  can  about  it.^^ 
There  is  also  som  gazetts  in  the  pocket.-'^ 

'5  Ichabod  Chauncy  of  Bristol,  England,  to  Increase  Mather,  February  17, 
168 1-2.     Mather  Papers,  pp.  617-619. 

^  Joseph  Eliot  to  Increase  Mather,  1683.     Ibid.,  p.  378. 

"7  Simon  Bradstreet  of  Medford  to  Increase  Mather,  1683.     Ibid.,  p.  479. 

**  William  Penn  of  Pennsylvania  to  Governor  Hinckley,  1683.  Massachusetts 
Historical  Society,  Collections,  2d  Series,  vii.  185,  186. 

^'  Timothy  Woodbridge  of  Hartford  to  Cotton  Mather,  April  14,  1684.  Mather 
Papers,  p.  639. 

3"  Sewall's  Diary,  i.  223.     August  14,  1688. 

3'  Nathaniel  Mather  to  his  brother  Cotton,  August,  1688,  from  Salem,  whither  he 
had  gone  for  medical  treatment  at  the  home  of  Dr.  Swinerton.  He  died  there  in  Octo- 
ber.   Mr.  Noyes  (Noyce)  was  one  of  the  Salem  preachers.    Mather  Papers,  p.  672. 

3=  Nathaniel  Mather  to  his  brother  Cotton,  August  31,  1688.  Mather  Papers, 
p.  673.     Mr.  Higginson  was  a  preacher  in  Salem. 

"  Wait  Winthrop  to  Fitz-John  Winthrop,  July  7,  1682.  Winthrop  Papers, 
iv.  427. 


Appendix.  223 

Pray  send  or  bring  50  lb  of  very  fine  salt  peter;  and  Glaubers 
Works  translated,  and  reprinted  since  the  first  edition  in  English.^^ 
I  haue  som  of  his  works  in  Latin,  but  not  halfe,  I  think.^s 

Pray  send  y^  Gazets,  &c.,  to  Ml"  Saltonstall,  &  then  to  Hart- 
ford.^'^ 

Send  me  by  the  next  post  a  little  booke  bound  called  the  Devout 
Soul's  dayly  Exercise,  in  prayers,  ....  etc:  by  R.  P:  D.  D. 
for  a  friend,  as  also  the  verses  made  about  the  queenes  death." 

If  you  haue  not  M""  Josh.  Moodyes  Artillery  Election  Sermon, 
June,  1674,  I  would  advise  your  Honour  as  a  Christian  &  good 
souldier  to  give  a  look  vpon  my  Annalls  of  God's  Blessing  of 
N.  E.  in  y^  yeare  1674,  where  you'l  finde  som  passages  of  it  re- 
corded. I  suppose  if  you  haue  never  seen  those  my  scripts  M"' 
Cotton  Mather  may  accommodate  your  Honour  w""  y"".  Those 
my  Chronilogicall  Decads  haue  rings  or  loops  by  w*^^  they  may  be 
fastened  together  or  hang'd  vp,  to  preserve  from  mice  or  rats.^^ 

For  y^  gent'?'  of  the  Council  at  Hartford  I  have  sent  a  Gazet, 
w"*"  I  desire  you  to  returne.'" 

I  carryed  home  to  Mr.  Pierpont  2  books,  and  borrowed  Ward 
on  Mathew.'"' 

The  Obligations  under  which  you  lay  me  are  many  and  lasting. 
And  these  Books,  with  which  you  last  favoured  me,  have  heaped 
Pelion  upon  Ossa. 

For  so  many  fatt  Birds,  I  now  return  you  a  Feather;  and  I 
pray  you  to  Accept  one  of  the  Enclosed,  and  convey  the  other.''' 

^*  The  same  to  the  same,  then  in  London.    November  i,  1694.    Ibid.,  iv.  503. 

^5  The  same  to  the  same,  October  28,  1695.    Ibid.,  iv.  511. 

3^  Fitz-John  Winthrop,  then  in  London,  to  Wait  Winthrop,  July  13,  1695. 
Ibid.,  iv.  325. 

3'  John  Tulley  of  Saybrook  to  Mr.  Harris,  the  printer,  of  Boston,  July  17,  1695. 
He  also  orders  a  London  "Ephemeris,"  complaining  that  the  Boston  one  sent  him 
is  poorer  than  he  himself  can  work  out  unaided.  Massachusetts  Historical  So- 
ciety, Proceedings,  i.  76. 

3*  Samuel  Stow  of  Middletown  to  Wait  Winthrop,  1696.  Winthrop  Papers, 
vi.  35.  The  last  sentence  may  explain  the  disappearance  of  many  valued  colonial 
books! 

"  Fitz-John  Winthrop  to  the  Council  at  Hartford,  February  15, 1700.  Winthrop 
Papers,  iv.  374. 

*°  Diary  of  Rev.  Joseph  Green  of  Danvers,  April  10,  1700.  Historical  Collec- 
tions of  Essex  Institute. 

■"  Cotton  Mather  to  Major  Stephen  Sewall,  October  15,  1701.  New  England 
Historical  and  Genealogical  Register,  xxiv.  no. 


2  24     Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

Send  me  Psalmanaazaar  again  in  a  month.  I  think  that  is  time 
enough, — if  not,  six  weeks. ■'^ 

A  Certain  Person  has  Lent  Fuller's  Holy  War,  his  name  is  on 
the  Frontice  Leaf  of  it:  Whosoever  has  borrowed  the  said  Book, 
or  into  whose  hands  it  may  come,  are  desired  to  return  it  unto 
John  Campbell    ....    that  the  true  Owner  may  have  it  again. '•^ 

Stolen  or  Lost  in  September  last,  out  of  Samuel  Dogger  of 
Marshfield  his  Sloop  then  in  Boston,  the  first  part  of  Purchasses 
Pilgrims  a  History  in  Folio    .    .    .    .    ^4 

A  Certain  Person  some  time  since.  Lent  Drydens  Virgil  in  Folio 
with  Cuts,  but  has  forgot  to  whom    .    .    .    .   •'s 

A  Valuable  Collection  of  Books  &  Pamphlets,  Consisting  of  Di- 
vinity, History,  Classicks,  Physick,  Poetry,  Mathematicks,  &c., 
in  several  Languages:  To  be  sold  by  Public  Vendue  or  Auction 
at  the  House  of  Mr.  Rowland  Dyke  at  the  Sign  of  the  Royal  Ex- 
change in  King-Street,  Boston:  Beginning  on  Tuesday  the  29'^ 
Listant    ....    Printed  Catalogues  may  be  had  gratis.'*^ 

The  Books  and  other  Things  of  Mr.  Edward  Weaver,  Deceas'd,  is 
to  be  Sold  on  Thursday  the  28th  of  this  Instant  February  .... 
at  the  Crown  CoflFee  house  in  King  Street.''^ 


B 


Invoice, 

OOKS  sent  to  John  Usher  of  Boston  without  order  by  Robert 
Boulter  of  London."* 

12  Terrences 

38  Bonds  horrace 

13  erasmus  Colloquies 

^  Cotton  Mather  to  Major  Stephen  Sewall,  May  2,  1706.  New  England  His- 
torical and  Genealogical  Register,  xxiv.  in. 

«  Advertisement  in  the  Boston  News-Letter,  September  2-9,  1706. 

^■i  Ibid.,  December  30-January  6,  1706-7. 

«  Ibid.,  March  12-19,  '^l'^S~^- 

■t'  Ibid.,  May  7-14,  1716. 

*'  Ibid.,  February  18-25,  1717. 

4*  Sent  about  1682.  Ford,  Boston  Book  Market,  pp.  12,  88-107.  The  collec- 
tion was  valued  at  £75.2.9. 


Appendix.  225 


13  dyers  worcks 
22  apples  of  Gould 

3  Calamys  ark 

6  meads  almost  a  Christian 
10  foxes  end  of  tyme 

3  faramond 

4  brooks  ark 

9  norwoods  epitomy 
15  bybles 
12  Cocker  Cockers  tutours 

4  Glasson  of  law 

2  last  part  of  the  english  rogue 
22  turky  skins 

2  parismus 

I  destruction  of  troy 

1  Valentyn  and  orson 

4  Goulmans  dictionarys 

15  dugarts  Rhetorique 
10  Complete  modelist 

4  Johnson  arithmatick 
4  ovid  metamorphosis 

4  esops  in  english 

2  burroughs  on  matthew 

5  Carmicheal  on  mortification 
5  mitchells  sermons 

'  8  alleins  allarm 

3  remains  [of  Joseph  Alleine] 

2  lyfe  and  death  [of  Joseph  Alleine] 
5  sincere  Convert 
9  sound  beleevers 
I  owen  on  the  sperit 

1  on  the  hebrews 

4  person  of  Christ 

16  boatswains  art 

2  felthams  resolves 

I  Cooks  marrow  [of  chirurgery] 
8  Cotton  on  the  Covenant 

3  queens  Closet 

4  Winchester  phrasis 


2  26     Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 


i6  Cap  of  gray  haires 

2  rarlerys  remains 

2  Clelias 
13  sellers  navigation 
12  seamans  Companion 

6  brooks  remedies 

9  argalus  and  parthenia 

1  Assemblys  annotations 

7  Clarks  tutours 

2  Compleat  Clark 

6  burrougs  Contentment 
2  Collins  on  providence 
2  Everards  workes 
6  Baxters  Call 
6  Doctrin  of  the  byble 
10  Wills  Commonwealth 

2  reynolds  on  Murther 

1  pembrooks  arcadia 

3  Colliers  divinity 

2  Flavell  on  providence 

3  touchstones  [by  John  Flavell] 
12  smiths  narrative 

12  Clarks  formula 
24  testaments 

6  senecas 

3  Doolitles  Catechis 

2  Coles  soveranity 

3  Januas  works 

5  Culpepers  dispensatory 

6  phisitian 

2  perfect  politician 
6  ashwoods  trade 

3  rythers  plat  [for  mariners] 
I  baxter  of  Concord 

1  tanners  art  of  physick 

2  temples  miscellanea 
6  pearse  of  death 

3  douting  Christian 
2  Vertuous  woman 


Appendix.  227 


4  help  to  discours 
18  flavell  on  the  sacrement 
24  vincents  Catechis 

6  alleins  Catt 

6  leis  Catt 

6  Janewais  life 

4  Johnsons  Deus  Nobiscum 

3  watsons  Contentment 

6  pooles  nullity  [of  the  Romish  Faith] 

12 Dialogues 

100  testaments 

I  Bacons  works 

I  Cloud  witnesses 

I  phillips  dictionary 

1  Caesars  Commentary 

2  leighs  Caesars 
6  wise  masters 

2  Erastus 

2  Vnlucky  Citicen 

2  Rich  Cabinet 

I  Senecas  moralls 
9  Gentle  Craft 
I  Cambdens  Elizabeth 
I  Miltons  history 
6  Guy  of  Warwick 
6  Reynard  fox 

3  war  with  the  Jews 
I  Parys  Narative 

12  dr  Faustus 

6  tom  reading 

6  [Tom  A]  Lincolns 
12  Joviall  Garland 
12  Crown  Garland 

6  Jack  Newberry 

4  absolute  accoumpt 
6  Garland  of  delight 
6  fortunatus 

6  royall  arbours 
8  S[c]oggins  jests 


228     Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

6  history  of  Joseph 
6  Devill  &  Dives 
6  Booke  of  knowledg 
4  Mandevills  travells 
6  wise  masters 
3  wakemans  tryalls 

2  Langhams 

3  dugdalls 

12  Processions 

4  pack  cards 


Invoice, 

BOOKS  delivered  by  Richard  Chiswell  of  London  to  Mr.  John 
Ive,  September  5,  1683,  ^'^^  shipment  to  New  England."' 

For  Mr.  Wise 

I  Poolls  Critticks  5  vol. 

I  Carryl  on  Job.     2  vol. 

I  Hacklutes  Uoyages 

I  Mori  Utopia 

I  Zanchii  Opera  2  vol 

I  Boltons  Instructions 

I  Greenhill  on  Ezekiel  Compl  in  3  vol 

I  Culpepers  English  Physitian 

1  Wilson's  Christian  Dictionary 

4  Markhams  Works 

2  Sure  Guide  to  Justices 
8  Aliens  Allarme 

3  Bridges  Remaines 

7  Gouges  Young  mans  guide  with  word  to  Sts  and  Sinners  and 

Xtian  Housholder 
12  Doz  of  White  Clasps 
10  Hodders  Arithmetick 

5  Janeways  Heauen  on  Earth 

<'  Ibid.,  pp.  108-120.     Value  about  £50. 


Appendix.  229 


I  Uenns  Military  Discipline 

3  Barriffs  Military  Discipline 

4  Little  peace  Maker 

4  Baxters  family  book 
20  Flauells  Saint  Indeed 

20  Token  for  Mourners 

10  on  the  Sacrement 

8  Touchstone 

5  on  Providence 

10  Seamans  Compas 

4  Husbandry 

20  2  Treatises 

20  Baxters  Call 

10  Now  or  Neuer 

5  Brooks  String  of  Pedes 

6  Apples  of  gold 

4  Ark  for  Gods  Noah 

I  Baxters  Saints  Rest 
10  Brooks  Mute  Xtian 
12  Ayres  Copy  books 

I  Flauells  Fountaine  Life 
12  Cockers  Tutor  to  Writing  and  Arithmetick 
30  Strongs  Spelling  book 

6  Uernons  Compting  house 
I  Felthams  Resolues 

20  Fox  of  Time 

10  Dyers  workes 

10  Norwoods  Epittomy 

10  Oxford  Bibles 

50  Oxford  Testaments 

4  Skins  of  Blew  Turkey  Leather 

7  Janeways  Life 
6  Julian 

6  Aliens  Remaines 

5  Life. 

7  Accademy  Compliments 

For  Mr.  Mather 
3  Chamberlins  Geography 


230      Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

I  Haworth  of  Consumption 

I  Bens  Sermons. 

I  Baxters  how  to  doe  good  to  mariy. 

I  Womans  Aduocate 

I  Miracles  no  uiolat.  Laws  Nature. 

1  Shaftsburys  Life 

2  London  gilt. 

For  Mr.  Shepard 
I  Mordens  Geography 
I  Piety  the  best  Rule  of  Orthodoxie 
I  Poeticall  History 

1  Owen  on  the  Hebrews. 

2  of  the  Person  of  Christ 

2  on  the  130th  psalme 

10  Burtons  Wonderful  Prodogies 

20  Doolittle  on  the  Sacriment  ist  p[art] 

15   on  the  Lds  Sufferings 

50  New  England  psalms 

50  Idem 

30  History  of  Dr.  Faustus 

I  Teats  Map  of  the  Wilderness  Sin 
Terme  cattallouge  No.  11.  12 


7  Accademy  Compliments,  another  sorte. 


The  order  not  mentioning  which  Accademy  of  Compliments  you 

would  haue,  both  sorts  are  sentt. 

Hookers  doubting  Christian  \ 

Aliens  Rebuke  >  out  of  print  and  not  to  be  had 

Owen  of  Comunion  ) 

Burtons  Wares  of  England      )  r     •  j  j   • 

«     •     ,  ,    ^     •     •  \  out  or  prmt  and  domg  agame. 
Amicable  Curiositys    ) 

Eltons  Military  Discipline — uery  scarce  and  sold  for  \ls. 

Moxons  Monthly  Exercises — Not  to  be  had  compl. 


Appendix.  231 

Invoice, 

BOOKS  sold  by  Richard  Chiswell  of  London  to  Mr.  John  Ive 
for  John  Usher  of  Bosto"h,  March  3,  1683-4.5" 

3  Virtuous  Woman  found. 

2  Erie  of  Rochesters  Poems. 
30  Hoolls  Corderius. 

6  Greek  Testaments. 

3  Rauerius  Practice  of  Physick. 

6  Sellers  Epittomie  of  Astronomical  Systems. 

4  Miltons  Paradise  Lost. 
40  Strongs  Spelling  booke. 

5  Sheppards  Sincere  Conuert. 
50  New  England  Psalmes. 

I  Bible  4°  Oxon  with  Common  prayer  and  Apockchryphia. 
100  Sententiae  Pueriles. 
50  Latine  Catos. 
40  Ouid  de  Tristibus. 

6  Meads  Almost  Christian. 
12  Erasmus  Colloquies  Latin. 

6  Lestranges  Erasmus  in  English. 
I  Baker's  Chronicle. 
3  Doz.  Brass  Compasses  largest  sorte 
3  Wilsons  Christian  Dictionary. 
20  Foxes  End  of  Time. 
8  Pounds  of  Vermillion  with  Box. 

1  Dutch  Annotations  in  2  Vol. 

2  Supplement  to  the  Morning  Exercise. 
I  Pembrooks  Arcadia. 

1  Keebles  Statutes  last  Edit. 

2  Queuedos  Visions  Compl.  both  parts. 

3  Cambridge  Concordance. 
30  Nomen  Claturas 

10  Dugards  Rhetorick. 
10  Smiths  Rhetorick. 

4  Ames  Cases  of  Contience  in  Lat. 
10  Hookers  Doubting  Christian. 

I  Gutberleths  Physick. 

^^  Ibid.y  pp.  121-132.    The  entire  collection  was  valued  at  £61.5.6. 


232     Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

10  Lattine  Testaments. 
18  Greek  Grammars. 
3  Wollebeus  Compendium  in  Lat. 
30  Token  for  Children  Compl. 

2  Burroughs  Gospel  worship. 
12  Norwoods  Epittomy. 

12  Gouges  Youngmans  Guide  with  Safe  way  of  Thriueing. 
12  Directions. 

3  Accademy  of  Compliments. 

5  Janeways  Life. 

6  Nuga  Uenales. 

3  Cotton  on  the  Couenant. 
12  Warr  with  the  Deuill. 

2  Burroughs  Gospel  worship. 

3  Present  State  of  England.     Comp.  all  parts 

4  Jure  Maritime. 

2  Clarks  Liues  of  the  Fathers. 

2  Sturmies  Mariners  Magazine. 
18  Dr.  Faustus.  ist  and  2d  pt. 

1 8  Calamys  Godlymans  Arke 
6  Brookes  Arke. 
6  Wilds  Poems. 
6  Argulus  and  Parthenia. 

3  Tanners  Art  of  Physick. 

4  Littletons  Dictionary. 
2  Gassendus  Astronimy. 

12  Sturmies  Epistles. 

2  Bythner  on  the  Psalmes. 
2  Leusdens  Hoi.  Bible. 
6  Oxford  Grammars. 

5  Oxford  Jests. 

13  Rami  Logica. 

16  Culpepers  English  Physitian. 
16  Dispensatorys. 

4  Dauenports  Saints  Anchorhold 

2  Zouche  Jurisdiction  of  Courts  of  Admiralty. 
10  Englishmens  Liberties. 

I  Hebrew  Bible  of  Mannasseth  Ben  Israel 

I   Idem  of  Uenice  Edition. 


Appendix.  233 


Idem  of  Plantins  Edition. 


Terme  Catalogue  No.  13.   14 

1.  All  the  books  are  sent  that  could  be  procured. 

2.  Some  few  are  raised  by  reason  of  the  scarcity. 


B 


Invoice, 

OOKS  sold  by  Richard  Chiswell  of  London  to  Mr.  John  Ive 
for  John  Usher  of  Boston,  May  29,  1684.S' 

2  Bibles  24  Ruled  Turkey  gilt  back 
30  Greek  Grammers 

3  Bythner  on  the  Psalms 
6  SincereConvert 

10  Flauel  on  the  Sacriment 
10  Cattechise 

2  Cambridge  Concordance 

2  Sellers  Practical  Nauigation 

2  Wilsons  Christian  Dictionary 

5  Clarks  Tutor 

4  Burroughs  Gospel  Remission 

4  State  of  England  in  2  vol  both  parts 

3  Markhams  way  to  get  wealth 
2  Eltons  Military  Discipline 

6  Oxon  Bibles  large 

5  Hesiod 

2  Blounts  Law  Dictionary 

2  Daltons  Justice 
50  Lattine  Grammers. 
50  Construing  books 
20  Smiths  Great  Assize 

2  History  of  Parismus 
20  Gentle  Craft 
10  Gentlemans  Jockey 

5  Uernons  Compting  House. 

2  Flauels  Fountaine  of  Life 

2  Method  of  Peace. 

^  Ibid.,  pp.  133-139.     Value,  £25.6.10. 


2  34      Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 
Treaty  of  Sufferings. 


3  Norwoods  Doctrine  of  Triangles. 

6  Epittomy. 

8  Gellibrands  Epittomy. 

2  Erly  Religion  a  Sermon. 

I  Showers  Ser[mon]  at  Mrs.  Ann  Barnardiston  funl. 

I  Dorringtons  Ser[mon]  of  the  Right  use  of  an  Estate. 

I  Demaris  Pearses  Remaines. 

1  Memoires  of  the  Fam.  of  the  Stuarts. 

2  Wonders  of  the  Femall  world. 

1  Her  and  His. 

lo  Second  Part  of  the  Pilgrims  Progress. 

2  Two  Journeys  to  Jerusalem 

200  Pare  of  Clasps  for  writeing  books 

2  London  Bully  ist  and  2d  p[art] 

3  A  Ramble  to  Hackney. 

1  Popes  Life. 

2  Informers  Doome. 

2  Melius  Inquirendum. 

2  Sherlocismus  Eneruatus. 

3  Uenus  in  the  Cloyster. 
2  Womans  Aduocate. 

London  Gilt  is  out  of  print  and  not  to  be  had. 


B 


Invoice, 

OOKS  sold  by  Richard  Chiswell  to  Mr.  John  Ive  for  John 

Usher,  April  13,  1685.5^ 

I  Goodwins  Works  in  2  vol. 

I  Rogers  on  Peter 

I  Parable  of  the  Prodigal 

20  Smith's  Great  Assize 
20  Flauels  Compas 

15 Token  for  Mourners 

30 Saint  Indeed 

10  Erasmus  Colloquies  8°  English  Lestrange 
^'^  Ibid..,  pp.  140-151.     Value,  £61.19.01/2. 


Appendix.  235 


20  Doolittle  on  the  Sacrament 
15  Hookers  Doubting  Christian 
100  Hoolls  Sententia 

60  Cases 

30  Fox  of  Time 
20  Baxters  Call 

10  Now  or  Neuer 

22  Farnabys  Ouid 
12  Hoolls  Terrence 

6  Booke  of  Rates 
30  Warr  with  the  Deuill 

4  Duty  of  Man 
12  Aristotle's  Problems 

8  Hebrew  Psalters 
30  Token  for  Children  Complt. 
10  Flauel  on  the  Sacrement 

2  Norton's  Orthodox  Euangelist 

3  Office  of  Executors 
30  Lillys  Rules 

10  Calamys  Godlymans  Arke 
12  Lattine  Justins 
18  Tullys  Offices 

1  Dutch  Annotations  in  2  vol 
10  Gollibrands  Epittomy 

6  Woollebius  Compend:  Lat. 

4  Lattine  Bible 

8  Flauels  Touchstone 
8  Winchester  Phrases 

2  Glissons  Common  Law  Epitomized 
8  Jure  Maritimo. 

2  Eltons  Millitary  Discipline. 

3  Barriffs  Millit.  Discipline  with  Horse. 
40  Marriners  New  Kallender 

4  Ittallian  Conuert 

1  Dells  Sermons. 

2  Terms  of  the  Law 

3  Daltons  Justice 

2  Keebles  Statutes. 
2  Cooks  Reports  Engl. 


236      Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

3  Blounts  Law  Dictionary. 

I  Sheppards  Grand  Abridgement 

I  Hobbarts  Reports. 

3  Culpepers  English  Physitian. 

3  Dispensatory. 

5  Midwifery  per  Culpeper. 
10  Greek  Gramers 

20  New  England  Psalmes 

3  Miltons  Logick. 

1  Wingates  Arithmattick. 

1  Records  Arithmattick. 

4  Johnsons  Arithmattick. 
3  Hodders  Arithmattick. 

10  Strongs  Spelling  book. 

6  History  of  Dr.  Faustus. 

2  Rochesters  Life. 

2  Owen  on  the  3d  p[ar]t  [of  Hebrews] 
12  Lattine  Terrence. 

3  Amesii  Medulla. 

3 de  Conscientia. 

3  Littletons  Dictionary. 

2  Pulton  of  the  Common  Pleas  Engls. 

5  Sheppards  Sure  Guide. 
10  Wonderful  Prodogies. 
20  Accidencies. 

10  Dugards  Rhetorick. 
15  Nomen  Claturas. 

6  Bonds  Horrace. 

3  Greek  Testaments 
20  Protestant  Tutors. 

3  Clarkes  Phrases. 

2  Poolls  Annotations  on  the  Bible  in  English. 

6  Siluanus  his  Theocritus. 

I    Lucian. 

I    Isocratis. 

I    Essopi  Fabula. 

I    Plutarck. 

Term  Cattalouge  No.  15.  16.  17.  18. 

.  .  .  .  The  4  books  of  Syluanus  are  sent  as  a  present  to  the  Chief 


Appendix. 


237 


Schoolmaster  in  New  England  being  a  New  Praxis  upon  some 
Greek  Authors  which  is  well  entertained  in  our  Schooles  here  and 
much  used. 


Book  References  in  Increase  Mather  s 
Writings, 


Author 


..     Books  Cited  or  Quoted. ^^ 

Title 
The  History  of  Sham  Plotts 
Acta  Eruditorum,  Leipsic 


Adam,  Melchior 

Vita  Melancthonis 

Adam,  Melchior 

Vita  Myconii 

Agricola,  Georg 

Agrippa,  C. 

de  Occulta  Philosophia 

Agrippa,  C. 

The  Vanity  of  Sciences 

Alting 

Loci  Communes 

Ambrose 

Treatise  of  Angels 

Ames 

Cases  of  Conscience 

Augustine 

de  Civitate  Dei 

Avicenna 

Balduinus 

Cases  of  Conscience 

Baldusius 

In  2  Corinthians 

Bartholinus 

Baxter,  R. 

Book  about  Witchcrafts 

Baxter,  R. 

Church  History 

Beard 

Theater  of  Gods  Judgements 

Bernard 

66  Sermones  in  Cantica 

Bernard 

A    Guide    to    Grand   Jurymen    in    Cases   of 

Witchcraft 

Beza 

Life  of  Calvin 

Beza 

Commentaries 

"  These  are  in  addition  to  those  mentioned  in  Chapter  VIII.    Where  no  title 
is  given,  the  reference  in  Mather  was  to  the  author  only. 


238      Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 


Binsfield 

de  Confessionibus  sagarum 

Bodin 

Daemonomania 

Boissardus 

de  Secretis  Mag. 

Bootius 

de  Gemmis 

Bovet 

Pandemonium 

Brockmand 

Theol.  de  Angelis 

Bromhall 

History  of  Apparitions 

The  Bucuneers  of  America 

Burnet 

Life  of  Rochester 

Burroughs 

On  Matthew  11,  28 

Burton 

Miracles  of  Nature^" 

Burton 

Prodigies  of  Mercies 

Burton 

History  of  Daemons 

Cambden 

Britannia 

Camerarius 

Horae  Subsecivae 

Camerarius 

Centuriae  Quattuor  Symbolorum 

Cardano 

de  Rerum  Varietate 

Cardano 

de  Subtilitate 

Casaubon 

Of  Spirits 

Childrey 

Britannia  Baconica 

Chiverius      » 

Historiarum  totius  Mundi  Epitome 

Chytraeus 

Clark,  Samuel 

Examples 

Clark,  Samuel 

Lives  of  English  Worthies 

Clark,  Samuel 

Martyrology 

Clark,  William 

Natural  History  of  Nitre 

Cooper,  Thomas 

Mystery  of  Witchcraft 

Cotta 

The  Tryal  of  Witchcraft 

Barrel 

Seven  Possessed  Persons  in  Lancashire 

Delrio 

Disquis.  Magicarum 

Dubravius 

Historia  Bohemiae 

Eusebius 

in  Vita  Constantii 

Fernelius 

de  Abditis  Rerum  Causis 

Forestus 

Gaul 

Select  Cases  of  Conscience  concerning  W: 

and  Witch-craft 

Gerhard 

Loci  Communes 

Gesner 

5<  See  note  4,  p.  138,  above. 


Appendix. 


239 


Gnaccius  Compend.  Malefic. 

Godelmannus  de  Lamiis 

Goodwin  Doctrine  of  Saints  Perseverance 

Gorges,  F.  Narration 

Goulartius  Select  History 

Hale,  Matthew  The  Account  of  Tryals  of  Witches  at  Bury, 

Suffolk 

Hall,  Bishop  Autobiography 

Hall,  Bishop  "Psalm  82" 

Heinsius  in  Matthew  viii,  16 

Hemming  de  Superstitione  Magica 

Henkelius  de  Obsessis 

"    History  of  Lapland 

'   Holder  "book    about    the    natural    production    of 

letters""  ' 

Honsdorsius  Historical  Theater 

•  Horace  Various 

Horneck,  A.  History  of  the  Witches  in  Sweden 

Horstius  Inst.  Med. 

Javellus  Medicinae  Compendium 

King  James  Discourse  of  Witchcraft 

Janeway  Remarkable  Sea  Deliverances 

Johnston  Thaumatograph 

'  Josephus  History  of  Wars  with  the  Jews 

•  Josephus  Antiquities 
Jovius,  P.  History 

deLaet,  J.  Description  of  America 

deLaet,  J.  de  Gemmis 

Lavater  de  Spectris 

Lecus  Compend.  Hist. 
Lemnius 

Lewiston  Of  Fulfilling  the  Scriptures 

Malderus  de  Magia 
^  Mandelslo                 •    Travels 

Martinii  Lexicon  Philologico-Etymologicum 

Martyr,  P.  Commentary  of  i  Samuel 

Mede  Works 


55  This  book  was  a  treatise  on  lip-reading;    a  very  modern  seeming  book  for 
the  company  it  is  in! 


240      Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 


Mede 

Melanchthon 

Menna 

Merden 

Meurerius 

Meurtius 

•  Morland 
Munster 
Owen 
Pensingius 
Perkins 

•  Polydore,  Vergil 
Pontano,  G. 
Porta,  Bapt. 
Proclus 
Rainolds 
Remigius 

»  Ricaut 

Roberts 
Rulandus 
Schotten 
Selden 
Sennertus 
Sennertus 
Sinclare,  G. 
Smetius 
Socrate 
.  Spotswood 
Sprenger 
Sympson 
de  Thou 
Thyrseus 
Thyraeus 
Thyraeus 
laTorr 
Tostatus 

Vairus  de  Fascino 
Valerius  Maximus 


Discourse  on  John  x,  20 

Consilia 

de  Purgatione  Vulgari 

Geographia  Physica 

Comment.  Meteorolog. 

Athenae  Batavae 

Hist.  Waldenses 

Notes  on  Leviticus  xvii 

Work  of  the  Spirit  in  Prayer 

de  Pulvere  Sympathetico 

Discourse  of  Witchcraft 


de  Sacrificio  et  Magia 
de  Libris  Apocryphis 

History  of  the  Present  State  of  the  Ottoman 

Empire 
Narrative  of  Witches  in  Suffolk 

Physic.  Curios. 

de  Diis  Syriis 

Practica  Medicinae 

Med.  Precl. 

Satan's  Visible  World  Discovered 

Miscellanies 

History 

History  of  Scotland 

Malleo  Malleficarum 

Ecclesiastical  History 

Historiarum  sui  Temporis 

de  Obsessis 

de  Apparitionibus  Spirituum 

Disput.  de  Daemoniacis 

Disputationes 

in  Matthew  8 


x^ppendix. 


241 


Verstegan 

Antiquities 

Voetius 

de  Emergumenis 

Voetius 

de  Spectris 

Voetius 

de  Operationibus  Dsemonum 

Voetius 

de  Magia 

Voetius 

Disputat.  Select. 

Wanly 

Of  the  Wonders  of  the  Worldous,  1680 

Webster 

Book  of  Witchcraft 

Weekly  Memorials  for  the  Ingeni 

White 

Relation 

Wierus 

de  Praestigiis  Dsemonum 

Willet 

Commentaries 

Wm.  of  Malmsbury 

Lib.  ii 

Zacchias,  P. 

Questionibus  Medicis 

Zanchy 

Epistol.  2 

Zuinger 

Theatrum  Vit.  Human. 

B.     Books  Referred  to  Without  Quotation  or  Citation. 

Bannosius 

Life  of  Ramus 

Burgensis 

Cabeus 

On  the  Loadstone 

Caussin 

Holy  Court 

Chassalion 

Histories  of  the  Judgements  of  God 

Codronchus 

Conring 

Cornelius  h  Lapide 

Cumanus 

Lucerna  Inquisitorium 

Epiphanius 

Freherus,  Paulus 

Theatrum  Vivorum  Eruditione  Claru 

Gassendi 

Essays 

Gennadius 

Gilbert 

De  Magnete 

Hakluyt 

Voyages 

Henningus  Witten 

Memoria  Theologorum  nostri  seculi 

Isidore 

Jerome 

Kepler 

On  the  Loadstone 

Kircher 

On  the  Loadstone 

Kommannus 

242     Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 


Linschoten 

Mendozo 

Molianus 

Pomponatius 

Prochorus 

Schopfius 

Serrarius 

Spineus 

Sulpitius  Severus 

Verheiden 

Ward 

Windet 


Voyages 


Academia  Christi 


In  Vita  Martini 
Elogia  Theologorum 
On  the  Loadstone 


Book  References  in  Cotton  Mather  s 
Writings, 

A.     Books  Cited  or  Quoted.s^ 


History  of  the  Indies 

Lives 

Perfect  Discovery  of  Witches 


Aben  Ezra 

Acosta,  J. 

Adam,  Mel. 

Ady,  T. 

Agapetus 

Agathius 

Algazel 

Alphonsus  of  Arragon 

Alsted,  J.  H. 

Altenburg 

Ambrose 

Amyraldus 

Angellius 

Anselm 

Antiochus  Syracusanus 

5*  These  are  in  addition  to  those  mentioned  in  Chapter  VIII.  A  few  quotations 
which  really  belong  to  the  third  period  (after  1700)  are  included  here  in  order  to 
give  a  complete  list  of  Mather's  borrowings. 


Antoninus 

Aquinas 
.  Aristotle 
Arnobius 
Arrianus 
Arrowsmith 
Athanasius 
Athenaeus 
Augustine 
Avril 
Baily,  R. 
Baker,  R. 
Bartholinus 
Barton,  W. 
Basil 

Bates,  W. 
Baxter,  R. 
Bede 

Bellarmine 
Bernard 
Beroaldus 
Besoldus 
Bethel,  S. 
Beverly 
Beverovicius 
Beza 

Blackerby 
Blahoslius 
Boccalini 
Bodin 
Bolsecus 
Borellus 
Brahe,  Tycho 
Bradwardine 
Brownrig 
Bucer 
Bucholtzer 
BuUinger 


Appendix. 

Aphor.  Polit. 


243 


Life  of  Antonius 

Several 
Travels 


(quotes  a  hymn) 

Several 

Ecclesiastical  History  of  England 


Axiomatae  Philosophise   Christianae 
The  Interest  of  Euroipe 


Life  of  Calvin,  Psalms 
History  of  Johannes  Cronu 

Life  of  Calvin,  etc. 


Scripta  Anglicana  and  others 


244      Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

Burnett  History  of  his  Times 

Burroughs,  J. 

R.  B.[urton]  History  of  Daemons 

Calamy  Sermon  on  Earl  of  Warwick,  etc. 

Calvin 

Camerarius 

Canus.  Melch. 

Carthagena 

Carthusian 

Caryl 

Casaubon 

Cassianus 

Castel 

Cato 

Chamier 

Chemnitius 

Chrysostom 

Cicero 

Cicero 

Clark,  S. 

Claude 

Claudian 

Clemens  Alexandrinus 

Clemens  Romanus 

Cocceius 

Colerus 

Contzen 

Coryat 

Cranmer 

Cranzius 

Crespin 

Cudworth 

Curtius 

Cyprian 

Demosthenes 

Denys,  N. 

Diodorus  Siculus 

Dionysius  Halic. 

Eccles,  S. 


De  Deo  Orando  and  others 

De  Natura  Rerum 

Orat.  pro  Plancio,  De  Senectute,  &  others 

Examples,  etc. 


Histoire  des  Martyrs 

Intellectual  System 

History  of  Alexander  the  Great 


Description  of  Coasts  of  North  America 
History 


The  Quaker's  Challenge 


Appendix. 


245 


Epiphanius 

j_ipntuiti  iv-n-o   j.»j.\,«aiv^»j-^ii^  oiv-CT^ 

Erasmus 

Epistolae,  and  other  works 

Eusebius 

Eutyches 

History  of  Nicene  Synod 

Festus 

de  Verborum  Significatione 

Firmin 

The  Real  Christian 

Fisher  the  Quaker 

Pamphlets 

Flavel 

Fox,  George 

Great  Mystery 

Fox,  J. 

Book  of  Martyrs,  Acts  and  Monumen 

Fuller,  Nich. 

Fuller,  T. 

Church  History 

Gaule,  J. 

Select  Cases  .   .  .  .Touching  Witches 

Gerhard 

Meditationes  Sacrae,  etc. 

Gerson 

Gesner 

Gildas 

Glanvil 

Collections  of  Sundry  Trials 

Gregory  the  Great 

Gregory  Nazienzen 

Gregory  of  Nyssa 

Grotius,  H. 

Grynaeus 

Guitton 

Gulielmus  Parisiensis 

Gustavus  Adolphus 

Hale,  Matthew 

Tryal  of  Witches 

Hall,  J. 

Heinsius 

Helvicus 

Epitaph 

Helwigius 

Hemming,  N. 

Admonitio  de  Superstitionibus  Magicis 

Hesychias 

Heylin 

Holland 

Homer 

Iliad 

Horace 

Various 

Horneck 

Various 


246     Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

Hornius 

Hottinger 

Hoyl,J. 

Ignatius 

Inghiramius 

Isidore 
-  Isocrates 

Jermyn 

Jerome 
^  Josephus 

Junius 

Jurieu 

Justin 

Justin  Martyr 

Keeble 

Kimchi,  Rabbi 

Lactantius 

LeClerk 

Leigh 

Libingus 

Lipsius 
■  Livy 
"  Lucian 
*  Lucretius 

Ludovicus  Molinaeus 

Lupichius 
"  Luther 

Lysimachus 
•'Machiavelli 

Madgeburgensian  Centu 
riators 
'  Maimonides 

Manethon 

Marbeck 

Martin  of  Tours 

Martyr,  Peter 

Maurier 

Mede,  J. 

Melanchthon 


Traite  de  L'Unite  de  L'Eglise 


Common  Law 


Critica  Sacra 


Various 


Concordance 


Commonplaces,  etc. 


Appendix. 

Alcoran 

Glanvil's  Sadducismus,  etc. 

History  of  Waldenses 

Egyptian  History 

(verse) 


247 


Mersennus 
'  Mohammed 
•  More,  Henry 
'  Morland 

Murtadi 

Musculus 

Musonius 

Myconius 

Newton 

Nieremberg 

Norton 

Oecolampadius 

Origen 

Osiander 

Ovid 

Owen,  J. 

Panormitan 

Parker 

Parliamentary 

Patin 

Penn 

Perkins 

Philo  Judaeus 

Philostratus 

Philpot 

Photius 

Plato 

Plautus 

Pliny 

Plot,  R. 

Plutarch 

PcEdianus 

Poiret 

Polybius 

Polycarp 

Polydore  Vergil 

Porphyrius 

Portugal,  King  of  Translation  of  Psalm 

57  English  translation  not  published  until  1773;   therefore  read  in  the  original. 


Answer  to  the  Sylloge  Quaestionum 

Various 

Metamorphoses  -^ 
Various 


Speeches 
Travels 

Witchcraft,  etc. 


Amphitruo,  etc. ' 

Natural  History  of  Oxfordshire 

L'CEconomy  Divine" 


248     Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 


Posidonius 
Potts,  T. 
Powel,  V. 
Prudentius 
Purchas 
Quercetanus 

Quintilian 

Raleigh 

Ramus 

Randolph,  N. 

Rivet,  A. 

Rodiginus 

Romanus 


Row 

Ruffinus 

Rushworth 

Rushworth 

Rycaut 

Ryther 

Sadoletus 

Salmasius 

Salomon,  Rabbi 

Salvian 

Sanbert 

Sarracius 

Saumer 

Scaliger 

Scribonius 

Seneca 

Sigonius 

Simeon  Metaphrast 

Sobinus 

Soulinge 

Stenius 

Strabo 

Streitbergerus 

Stupius 


Life  of  Augustine 

Discoverie  of  Witches  in  Lancashire 


Pilgrims 
Quest,  et  Resp. 

Letters 

Roman  Law,  XII  Tables  of 


Collections,  1629 
Collections,  1640 
History  of  Turks 
A  Plot  for  Mariners 


Physiologia  Sagarum 


Appendix.  249 

Discourse,  1637 

The  Taanith 

The  Talmud  '' 
Apology,  etc. 

On  Family  Worship 

Observations 

True  Touchstone 
Various 

Meditations 


de  Prsestigiis  Daemonum 

Conciones  Sex  ad  Academicos  Oxon. 


Suidas 
Symmachus 
Symons,  E. 
Synesius 

Tacitus 

Tertullian 

Theodoret 

Theophylact 

deThou 

Tillotson 

Tolner 

Turretin 

VanHeer 

Vegetius 

Vincent 

Virgil 

Voetius 

Vossius 

Waller,  W. 

Weinrichius 

Wendover 

Whitaker 

Widerus 

Wierus 

Wigandus 

Wilkinson 

Wotton 

Zanchy 

Zeira,  Rabbi 

Zepperus 


B,     Books  Referred  to  without  Quotation  or  Citation. 
Abericus 


Alting 

Ames,  William 

Archilochus 

Archimelus 


Medulla  Theologiae,  etc. 


250     Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

Life  of  J.  Angier 
Verus  Christianismus 
Advancement  of  Learning 


Arndt 

Bacon 

Baldwin 

Bannosius 

Baronius 

Barrow,  L 

Basnagian 

Bekker 

Bennet 

Bernard 

Bilson 

Binsfield 

Blondel 

Bochart 

Boehm 

Bolton 

Bovet 

Boyle 

Brombal 

Bucan 

Burnett 

Cambden 

Carbilius 

Castalio 

Cochlaeus 

Cole,  T. 

Corbet 

Corinna 

Cornelius  h  Lapide 

Cotton 

Davenport,  C. 

Defoe 

Delrio 

Descartes 

Didymus 

Dietericus 

Diodati 

Dorney 


Life  of  Ramus 


Concordance 

Guide  to  Grandjurymen 


Curiosities 
Recapitulation,  etc. 
Sermons 


Essay  on  Scripture  Prophecies 

^neidomastix 
Sacred  Dialogues 

Discourse  of  Regeneration 
Self-Employment 


Concordance 
The  Storm 

Antiquitates  Biblicae 
Divine  Contemplations 


Dorotheus 

Downham 

Edwards 

Empress  Eudocia 

Eunapius 

Fabius 

Faustinus 

Fenner 

Ficinus,  Marcil. 

Florus,  Luc. 

Franke 

Gassendi 

Genebard 

Gennes 

Godefridus  de  Valle 

Gualteb 

Guicciardine 

Hardy 

Hevelius 

Herennius 

Herodian 

Herodotus 

Hilary 

Hildersham 

Hobbes 

Hooker,  R. 

Hornius 

Hortensius 

Hospinian 

Howe,  J. 

Irenseus 

Janeway 

Juvian 

La  Placette 

Laertius 

Langius 

Leontius 

Lightfoot 


Appendix. 

Collections 
Concordance 
Preacher 
Poems 

Life  of  Beza 

Treatise  on  Impenitency 
Several 

Manuductio,  etc. 


Relation  of  Voyage 
De  Arte  Nihil  Credendi 


Guide  to  Heaven 
Selenography 


251 


De  Origine  Gentium  Americanarum 

On  Blessedness  of  Righteousness 

Treatises;  Token  for  Children 
The  Oxford  Jests;  Cambridge  Jests 

La  Morale  Chretienne  Abregee 

Medecina  Mentis 

Curiosities 


252      Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

Lubbertus 

Lukins  Interest  in  Spirit  of  Prayer 

Lycophron 

Lyra 

Maccovius 

Macrobius 

Marot,  C.  Psalms  in  Metre 

Marshall  Gospel  Mystery  of  Sanctification 

Mass-books 


Mathesius 

Meddendorpius 

Mendoza 

Nathans,  Rabbi 

Neal 

Neander 

Norcott 

Oldmixon 

Oppian 

Pagius 

Palladius 

Pamphilia 

Pancirollus 

Paterculus 

Peter  Crinitus 

Pezelius 

Pictet,  B. 

Platerus 

Pocock 

Pole,  M. 

Posselius 

Ravanellus 

Reynolds 

Ricciolus 

Roswitha 

Rowe,  J. 

Saleius 

Sallust 

Sandford 

Sarocchia 


Concordance 

History  of  New  England 

English  Empire  in  America 

Dialogus  de  Vita  Chrysostomi 
Res  Deperditae 

Saintes  Conversationes 
Annotations 


Almagestum  Novum 

Chronicles 

Saints'  Temptation 


De  Descensu  Chris  ti 


Appendix. 


253 


Schlusselbergius 
Schurman 
Scribanius,  C. 
Selden 
Servius 

Simeon  Metaph. 

Simplicius  Verinus 

Sleidan 

Socrates 

Spencer 

Stapelton 

Stegmannus 

Strato 

Suetonius 

Swinnock 

Theophylact 

Thucydides 

Torniellus 

Tympius 

Usher 

Victor 

Wallis 

Weigel 

Whiston 

White 

Wickens 

Wilkins 

Wise,  J. 

Witten 

Woodward 

Xenophon 

Xenophon 

Zosimus 

Zuinglius 


The  Seven  Champions 


Discourse  Concerning  Prodigies 
De  Tribus  Thomis 

Studii    Pietatis    Icon;    De    Vero    Chris- 
tianismo 


Discourses 


Body  of  Divinity 


Apostolical  Constitutions 
The  Power  of  Godliness 


Vindication 

Memoriae  Theologorum 

Natural  History  of  the  Earth 

Hellenica 

Cyropaedia 


254      Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 


Inventory  of  the  Library  of  William 
Brewster,^^ 

1  little  chatachismes 

I  Lambeth  on  the  Will  of  man  [by  Francois  Lambert.] 

I  morrall  discourse 

Discouery  of  Spanish  Inquisition  [by  Gonsalvius  Montanus.] 

Johnson  on  18'''  Math,   [by  Francis  Johnson.] 

Remaynes  of  Brittaine  [by  Wm.  Camden.] 

Description  of  New  England   [by  John  Smith.] 

Nova  Testamenti  Malarato   [by  Avg.  Marloratus.] 

Tromelius  &  Junius  Biblia  Sacra  [by  L  Tremellius  and  F.  Junius.] 

Beza  noua  testament,  lat.  &  gre. 

Centuria  Selecta 

Calvin  duodecim  pphet   [Prselectiones  in  Dvodecim  Prophetas] 

Clauis  Scriptura  flacio  Illirico  [by  Flacius  Illyricus.] 

Peter  Martyr  Com[mentarii].  prior  ad  Corinthos 

Musculus  ad  Isaiam  &  Romanos  [by  Wolfgang  Moesel.] 

Regneri  prandini 

(Ecolumnadi  in  leremia   [by  J.  GEcolampadius.] 

Crisostm,  Mattias  &  loannes   [by  J.  Chrysostom.] 

Musculus  Psalmos  David   [by  W.  Moesel.] 

Calvi  at  Daniel   [Calvin:    Praelectiones  in  Librum  Prophetiarum 

Danielis.] 
Calvi  on  Isa  [Calvin:  Commentarii  in  Isaiam.] 
Musculus  ambos  Epist  ad  Corinthos  [by  W.  Moesel.] 
MoUeri  ad  Psalmos 

Lanaterus  Esequeh  [L.  Lavaterus:  Ecclesiastes  Salomonis.] 
Zanchi  ad  Ephe[sios] 
Syntagma  amudo  polo  Syntagmatis  Theologia  Christian  [Aman- 

dus  Polanus:  Syntagma  Theologiae.] 
Sulteti  Isaiam  [Abraham  Scultetus:  Annotata  in  Proph.  Esaiam.] 

58  Massachusetts   Historical    Society,    Proceedings,  2d   Series,   v.  37  flF.     Ex- 
planatory notes  in  brackets  are  condensed  from  Dr.  H.  M.  Dexter's. 


Appendix.  255 

Purei  Hoseam   [David  Pareus:  In  Hoseam.] 

Gualterin    Deluerin,   nou.   testa.    [Rodolph   Gualther:  Archetypi 

Homiliarum  in  quatuor  Evang,  etc.] 
Psalm  Pagnii   [S.  Pagnini.] 
Pareus  in  Genosa   [in  Genesin  Mosis.] 
Piscator  in  Nova  Testament 
Pareus  ad  Romanos 
Pareus  ad  Priorem  Corinthis 
Caluin  Eze[chielis]  vigint  prima 
Tabula  Analytice  Stephano 
Cartwright  harm[oni]a  4  Euangl 

Pascillia  Hemnigm   [N.  Hemmingius:  Postilla  Evangeliorum.] 
De  Vera  les.  Chr.  Religione   [P.  Duplessis-Mornay:  De  veritate 

Religionis  Christianae  liber.] 
Erasmus  in  Marcin  [Marcum] 
Parkerius  politica  Eccle  [R.  Parker:  De  Politeia  Eccle- 

siastica  Christi.] 
Piscator  in  Genesn 

Kykermano  Systema  Phisica   [Bart.  Keckerman.] 
Beza  Confess.  Christ 

Rollock  in  Dany    [R.  RoUici:  In  Librum  Danielis  Prophetas.] 
Dauen  in  prio  Juni    [L.  Danseus:    Commentarium  in  priorem  ad 

loannem  Epistolam.] 
Thom  Thomaseus  Dix  [Dictionarium,  etc.] 
Bastwick  Apologeticus   [1636] 
Machauelii  princeps 
Elenchus  papistice  Bastwick     [J.  Bastwick;  Elenchus  Religionis 

Papisticae.     1633.] 
Rollock  at  Psalmos 
Rainoldi  de  Romana  Eccles 
Caluin  in  Josua 

Syntagma  Vigandus  [Jo.  Wigandus:  Syntagma.  .] 
Epistola  Apologetica 
Paraphrasa  Erasmus  in  Luke 
Latina  Grammatica 
Hebrew  gramat 
Camden  Brittan  [Britannia] 
Rollock  ad  Romanos  Ephes[ios] 
Dictio.  Triglott 


256      Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

Buxtorff  Lexicon 

Cartwright  prouerbia 

lunii  ad  Ecclam  Dei     [F.  lunius:  Ecclesiastic!   .    .    .    .] 

Tyrocinia    [J.  Prideaux:  Tyrocinium  ad  syllogismum    .    .    .    .] 

Poemata  Heringii  [Fr.  Herring:   In  foelicissimum    ....    lacobi 

primi,  Anglise   ....   Regis,  etc.     Poema  Gratulatorium.] 
Ad   Reverend,   patres   Eccles.  Anglican    [Remonstrance    ag'  y^. 

treat' of  Puritans.     1625.] 
Amesii  contra  Grevin.  Co.    [against  Nic.  Grevinchovius.] 
Hypomneses    [Prideaux:  Hypomnemata  Logica,  Rhetorica,  etc.?] 
Antichristus  prognostica 

Harmonia  Evangelia  [by  M.Chemnitiusand  Polycarpus  Lyserus.] 
I  English  bible  lattin  letter 
I  English  bible 
A  new  Testament 

Mr.  Ainsworths  Psalms  in  prose  &  meter 
I  new  testament 

Major  Coment  new  testament  [J.  Mayor:  A  Commentarie  .  .  .  .] 
Hexapla  vpon  Daniell  [by  A.  Willet.] 
1  volumes  of  Mr.  Perkins 
Mr.  Hemes  works  [PSamuel  Hieron   1624.] 
Babingtons  works  [by  Gervase  Babington.] 
Cartwright   against   Remise      [A   Confutation   of  the   Rhemists 

translation    .    .    .    .] 
Byfield  on  Coloss 

Dodoner  Herball  [by  Rembert  Dodoens.] 
Mr  Rogers  on  Judges  [by  Richard  Rogers.] 
Mr  Richardson  on  y^  state  of  Eur[ope].    [by  Gabriel  Richardson. 

Knights  Concord[ance]   [by  Wm.  Knight.] 

Calvin  on  Isay 

Willet  on  Romans 

Greusames  works  [Richard  Greenham?] 

Bodens  Comon  weale  [by  Jean  Bodin.] 

Willet  on  the  i*.'  Samuel 

Surveyor  by  Ratbone  [Aaron  Rathbone:  The  Surveyor ] 

Willit  on  Genesis 

Seneca  Workes 

Wilcocks  on  Psalmes  [T.  Wilcox,] 


Appendix.  257 

Cottons  Concordance  2  volumes  [1631.] 

Scholastical  discourse  about  the  crosse  [by  R.  Parker.] 

Taylor  upon  Tytus 

Hill  upon  Life  Euer [lasting]. 

Wilsons  Dixonor  [Thos.  Wilson:  A  Christian  Dictionary.  .    .] 

Waimes  Christia  Synagogue  [by  Jo.  Weemes.] 

Gibbines  question  &  disputacons  [by  Nich.  Gibbens.] 

Caluin  Harmon  Evan[gelists]. 

Defence  of  Synod  of  Dort  by  Robin  [by  Jo.  Robinson.] 

Messelina    [?Nath.  Richards:  The  Tragedy  of  Messalina,  1640.] 

Downams  Warfare  2  pt    [J,  Downame:  The  Christian  Warfare.] 

Barlow  on  2  Tymothy  [1625.] 

Cartwright  ag^.*  Whitgift  2  pt 

Jackson  ag^  Misbeliefe  [1625.] 

Granger  on  Eccl[esiastes].   [1621.] 

Brightman  on  Reuel[ation]. 

Birdag  Anti    [?Tho.  Beard:  Antichrist  the  Pope  of  Rome.  1625.] 

Byfield  on  i  Peter  [1623.] 

Weymes  on  Image  of  God  in  Man    [J.  Weemes.    1627.] 

Parr  on  Romans  [1631]. 

Robinsons  Observacons  [J.  Robinson.   1625.] 

Right  way  to  go  to  worke  [1622.]. 

Byfields  sermons  on  i  Peter 

Dod  on  Commandm*? 

Mayor  on  Catholick  Epistles  [Jo.  Mayer.     1627.] 

Taylor  parable  on  the  Sower    [Tho.  Taylor.    1621.] 

Narme  of  Chr.  Strarr.    [W.  Name:  Christs  Starre   ....    1625.] 

Morley  of  truth  of  religion   [by  P.  de  Mornay.] 

Attersons  badges  of  Christianity 

Downam  Consolatrix  [Jo.  Downame:  Consolations] 

Elton  on  7  Romans 

A  declaracon  of  Quintill.  question 

Byfeild  on  3  of  Peter  [1637.] 

7  p'^bleames  against  Antechrist  [G.  S.:  Sacrse  Heptades,  or  seaven 

problems  concerning  Antichrist.     1626.] 
Dike  upon  Repent 
Sibbs  Soules  Comfort  [1625.] 
Passions  of  the  mynd 
5  bookes  of  Sermons  stichet  together 


258      Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

Constitucons  &  Cannons  of  bb.  of  Cant. 

Wittenhall  discovery  of  abuses  [Th.  Whetenhall.] 

Rollock  on  Thessal[onians] 

Heauen  opened  by  Coop  [by  Wm.  Cowper.] 

Treasury  of  Smiles    [Rob.  Cawdrey:  A  Treasurie  or  Store-House 

of  Similies.] 
Downefall  of  Popery   [by  Th.  Bell.] 
Saints  by  calling  by  Wilson 
Udal  on  Lamentacons 

Dyocean  Tryall    [P.  Baynes:  The  Diocesans  Tryall.] 
Sparks  ag*"'  Albin     [Tho.  Sparke:  An  Answere  to  J.  de  Albines 

notable  Discourse  against  heresies.] 
Wottons  defence  of  Perkins  Refor[med]  Catholicke 
Brinslow  on  Ezech  [Ezekiel]    [by  J.  Brinsley.   1622.] 
Defence  of  Ministers  reasons    [by  S.  Hieron.] 
Downam  ag^'  Bath  &  Wells     [G.  Downame:  A  Defence  of  the 

Sermon  preached  at  the  Consecration  of  the  L.  Bishop  of 

Bath  and  Welles   .    .    .    .] 
A  discourse  of  troubles  Chu.  of  Amster[dam].    [by  G.  Johnson.] 
Mr.  Smyths  3  treatises 

Discourse  of  Equivocation    [by  H.  Mason.    1634.] 
Mr.  Smyths  paroliles    [Jo.  Smyth:  Paralleles,  Censvres,  etc.] 
A  peticon  for  reforniacon 
A  primer  of  Chr.  Relig. 
A  discourse  of  variance  betweene  pope  &  Venet.     [Chr.  Potter: 

A  Sermon    ....    added  an  Advertisement  touching  .... 

the  quarrels  of  Pope  Paul  5,  with  the  Venetians.    1629.] 
Broughton  on  Lament[ations]. 
Perkins  on  Sat[ans].     Sophist[rie] 
A  discourse  of  Adoracon  of  Reliq"^ 
A  trew  mark  of  Catholike  Church  [by  T.  Beza.] 
A  quodlibet  to  bewarr  of  preise 
lustifycacon  of  Sepacon  [by  J.  Robinson.] 
Storke  answere  to  Campion    [W.  Charke:  An  Answere  to  ...    . 

a  Jesuite  (E.  Campian)    .    .    .    .] 
Dike  on  the  heart 
Perkins  on  1 1  Hebrewes 
Bayne  on  Ephes[ians].     [1643.] 
Dike  on  repent[ance].  &  ch[rists].  temtations 


Appendix.  259 

Bolton  on  true  happynes 

Downam  ag'''  Beller    [G.  Downame:  A  Treatise  ....  against 

all  the  objections  of  R.  Bellarmine   .    .    .    .   ] 
Wotton  on  i  lohn 
Gouge  Armor  of  God 
Plea  for  Infants  [by  R.  Clyfton.] 
Rollock  on  effectual  calling 

Calling  of  lews  by  Finish    [by  H^  Finch.    1621.] 
Prin  Antearminescence   [Wm.  Prynne:  Anti-Arminianisme.  1630.] 
Discouery  by  Barrow     [H^  Barrowe:  A  Brief  Discouerie  of  the 

false  Church.] 
Ainsworths  defence  of  Scripture 
Admonition  to  Parli"*^    [by  J.  Field  &  T.  Wilcox.] 
Refutacon  to  Gifford   [by  H.  Barrowe  &  J.  Greenwood.] 
Perth  Assembly  [by  J.  Forbes.] 
Treatise  of  Ministery  of  England    [by  F.  Johnson.] 
Cassander  Anglicans   [by  J.  Sprint.] 
Downam's  warfarr.      [Probably  another  of  the  four  parts  of  The 

Christian  Warfare] 
The  meane  of  mourneing  [by  Th.  Playfere.] 
Hackhill  History  of  Judges     [?Geo.  Hakewill:  Scutum  Regium, 

Id  est,  adversus  omnes  regicidas,  etc.] 
Sweeds  Intelligencer    [The  Swedish  Intelligencer.    1632.] 
Comunion  of  Saints  [by  H.  Ainsworth.] 
Abridgment  of  Ministers  of  Lincolne 
Jacob  Attestation     [H.  Jacob:  An  Attestation   ....   that  the 

Church  government  ought  to  bee   .    .    .    .] 
Modest  Defence  [of  the  Petition  for  Reformation] 
Exposicon  of  Canticles 
Whitgifte  answere  to  a  libell 
A  reply  to  a  libell 
Dupless  of  a  Chur    [P.  Duplessis-Mornay:  A  notable  Treatise  of 

the  Church   .    .    .    .] 
Perkins  on  lude 
Downams  4  treatises 
Deareing  on  Hebrews 
A  Collection  of  Englands  Deliuanc^     [G.  Carleton:  A  Thankfull 

Remembrance  of  Gods  Mercy,  In  an  Historicall  Collection 


26o     Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

of  the  ....  Deliverances  of  the  Church  and  State  of  England 
....    1627.] 

1000  notable  things  [by  Th.  Lupton.] 

Riches  of  elder  ages 

tymes  turne  coat     [Turncoat  of  the  Times.     A  Ballad.     1635.] 

A  continuacon  of  adventur  of  Don  Sebastian  [?  J.  Teixera:  The 
strangest  adventure  ....  A  discourse  concerning  .... 
the  King  of  Portugall  Dom  Sebastian  .  .  .  .  or  E.  Allde: 
The  Battell  of  Barbaric,  between  Sebastian  King  of  Portu- 
gall, and  Abdelmelec  King  of  Morocco  ....  As  ...  .  plaid 
by  the  Lord  High  Admerall  his  seruants.] 

Surveyor  Dialougs    [Jo.  Norden:  The  Surveyors  Dialogue.] 

Apology  Chur.  of  England  ag'^  Brownists    [by  J.  Hall.] 

Kings  declaracon  about  Parlia'^ 

Scyrge  of  Drunkerds    [W.  Hornby:  The   Scourge  of  Drunken- 
nes. 
(In  verse.)     1619.] 

Syons  Plea    [A.  Leighton:  An  Appeal  to  the  Parliament.    1628.] 

Elton  of  Comandmts 

Treatise  of  Chr.  Religion  [by  Jo.  Ball.  1620.] 

A  battaile  of  Palatinate 

Treatise  122  Psalm   [by  Robt.  Harrison.   161 8.] 

Concordance  of  yeares  [by  Ar.  Hopton.] 

Cesars  Tryumphs 

A  dialogue  concerning  Ceremonies    [by  Saml.  Gardiner.] 

Essayes  about  a  prisoner  [Geffray  Mynshul:  Essayes  and  Char- 
acters of  a  Prison  and  Prisoners.    1618.] 

Politike  diseases 

Exposicon  of  Liturgie    [by  Jo.  Boys.] 

Magnifycent  Entertaynement  of  King  lames    [by  Th.  Decker.] 

Essex  practise  of  treason  [by  Fr.  Bacon.] 

Prosopeia  [  .^Prosopopoeia,  or  a  Conference  ....  between  the 
Pope,  the  Emperor,  and  the  King  of  Spaine.  (a  satire,  in 
verse),  or  Prosopopoia,  or  Mother  Hubberds  Tale  (in  verse) 
by  Ed.  Spenser.] 

Withers  motto  [by  Geo.  Wither.   1621.] 

Standish  for  woods  [Ar.  Standish:  New  Directions  ....  for  the 
increasing  of  Timber  and  Fire-wood.    161 5.] 

A  recantacon  of  a  Brownist    [by  P.  Fairlambe.] 


Appendix.  261 

A  supply  to  German  History  [?  A  suplement  to  the  sixth  part 
of  the  German  History.    1634.] 

Of  the  use  of  silk  worms    [by  O.  de  Serres.] 

Newes  from  Verginia    [by  R.  Rich.    A  poem.    1610.] 
,News  from  Palatinate  [1622.] 

Hacklett  [R.  Haklyt:  The  principal!  Navigations   .    .    .    .] 

Byfeild  on  the  oracles  of  God    [1620.] 

Gods  monarchy  Deuells  Kingdome  [by  I.  Anwick.] 

New  shreds  of  old  share 

Discharg  of  5  imputations  [by  Tho.  Morton.   1633.] 

Dauids  Musick    [by  R.  Allison.] 

Home  sheild  of  the  Rightous  [by  Rob.  Horn.   1625.] 

Ruine  of  Rome  [by  A.  Dent.   1633.] 

Downame  on  15  Psalm 

Pisca  Evangelica  [W.  Symonds:  Pisgah  Evangelica.] 

Virell  on  Lords  prayer  [by  P.  Viret.] 

Answere  to  Cartwright 

Broughton  on  Gods  Diuinitie 

Bayne  tryall  of  Christ[ians]  [ejstate 

Wheatley  on  Gods  husbandry    [by  Wm.  Whately.    1622.] 

Exposicon  on  Reuelac 

Perkins  Reformed  Catholik 

Johnsons  &  Withers  works  [Rich.  Johnson:  The  Golden  Garland 
of  Princely  pleasures  and  delicate  Delights.  1620.  Geo. 
Wither:  The  Workes  of  ...    .    1620.] 

10  sermons  of  the  supper    [by  J.  Dod  &  R.  Cleaver.    1634.] 

Ciuill  Conuersacon  Gnahzo  [by  Stef.  Guazzo.] 

Smyths  plea  for  Infants 

Bacons  p^ficiency  in  Learning  [F.  Bacon:  Advancement  of  Learn- 
ing-] 

Arguments  ag^'  seinge 

Theologicks 

Eming  on  lames  [by  N.  Hemming.] 

Catholike  Judg. 

The  spirituall  watch  [T.  Gataker.   161 9.] 

reasons  for  reformacon  of  Chur.  of  Eng!    [by  H.  Jacob.] 

A  looking  glass  ag^'  Prelates    [by  W.  Prynne.    1636.] 

A  sermon  of  Bishop  of  London 

Resolucon  for  kneeling  [by  D.  Lindesay.   1619.] 


262     Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

2  Exact  discouery  of  Romish  doctrine    [by  T.  Morton.] 

Warr  was  a  blessing     [?D.  Digges:  Foure  paradoxes   ....   of 

the  worthinesse  of  warre  and  warriors.] 
Midland  souldier     [?M.  Parker:  The  Maunding  Soldier   .... 

(a  ballad.)    1629.] 
Humillitie  Christians  life    [?D.   Cawdrey:   Humilitie,   the   Saints 

liverie  ....    1624] 
Church  Deliuance 

Cofnent  on  Ecclesiastic    [?  by  J.  Granger.    1621.] 
Prerogative  of  Parli"*^^    [by  Sir  W.  Raleigh.    1628.] 
Temple  on  20  Psalm 
Abbott  sermon 

Soules  Implantacon    [by  Tho.  Hooker.    1637.] 
A   treatise  of  Stage  pleas      [by  J.   Rainolds:  Th'  overthrow  of 

Stage-Playes.] 
Apologue  of  Brownists    [by  F.  Johnson  &  H.  x'\insworth.] 
State  Mistery  of  Jesuits 
Dike  Schoole  of  affliccon 

Sibbs  Comfort    [Rich.  Sibbes:  The  Saints  Comfort.    1638.] 
Taylor  on  32  psalm 

Parable  of  the  Vine  by  Rogers    [N.  Rogers:  The  Wild  Vine.  1632.] 
Apologeticall  reply  by  Damfort    [by  J.  Davenport.    1636.] 
divers  books  sticht  together^' 
Broughton  of  Lamentacons 
A  good  wyfe     [R.  Brathwait:  The  Description  of  a  Good  Wife. 

(verse.)      1619.] 
Northbrook  against  Images 
The  tryall  of  truth  by  Chibbald    [1622.] 
The  paterne  of  true  prayer 
Household  gouerment 
Blackwells  answers 
Aristotles  probleames 
Symers  Indictment    [W.  Ward:  A  Synners  Indictament.] 

59  Identified  by  Dexter  as  a  book  which  he  owned  containing:  L.  Chaderton: 
A  Godly  Sermon  vpon  ....  12.  chapter  of  .  .  .  .  Romanes.  A  True,  Modest, 
and  just  Defence  of  the  Petition  for  Reformation.  J.  Robinson:  The  Peoples 
Plea  for  the  exercise  of  Prophesie.  R.Harrison:  A  Little  Treatise  vpon  .... 
122  Psalm.  T.  Dighton:  Certain  Reasons  ....  against  Conformitie  .... 
T.  Dighton:  The  Second  Part  of  a  Plain  discourse  .  .  .  .  W.  Euring:  An 
Answer  to  the  Ten  Covnter  Demands  .... 


Appendix.  263 

lohnsons  psalmes  in  meeter 

Mores  discovery 

A  Sermon 

Refutacon  of  tolleracon 

Aphorismes  of  State    [by  the  Colledge  of  Cardinalls.    1624.] 

Of  Union  betweene  England  &  Scotland    [by  Sir  VV.  Cornwallis.] 

Tales  of  Popes  custome  house     [?W.  Crashaw:  Mittimus  to  the 

Ivbile  at  Rome:  or  the  rates  of  the  popes  cvstome-hovse. 

1625.] 
Of  Pope  loane  [by  A.  Cooke.] 
A  dialogue  betweene  a  gent  &  a  preist 
Against  kneeling 
Perkins  on  fayth 

Bacons  Apologye  [by  Sir  F.  Bacon.] 
A  History  of  Mary  Glouer  [by  J.  Swan.] 
A  bundle  of  smale  books  &  papers 
Defyance  of  death  [by  Wm.  Cowper.] 
A  Christians  apparelling  [by  R.  Jenison.   1625.] 
Perkins  on  repentance 
Essays  by  Cornwallis  [Sir  Wm.] 
Spirituall  stedfastnes  [by  J.  Barlow.   1632.] 
A  manuell  [?  J.  Usher:  Immanuel.   1638.] 
A  breiffe  of  bible  [by  Henoch  Clapham;  in  verse.] 
Jacob  on  2^  Comand"' 
A  pill  to  purge  popery 
Withers 

Cathologue  of  nobillyty  of  England    [by  R.  Brooke.    1619.] 
English  Votaryes  [by  J.  Bale.] 
Sibbs  Yea  &  Amen  [1638.] 
Sermons  by  Rollock 
Kinges  Bath     [by  Tho.  Taylor:  ....   a  Treatise  on  Matt.  iii. 

1620.] 
Great  Assise  by  Smyth  [1625.] 
Martin  on  Easter   [??  N.  Marten:  The  seventh  voyage  .  .   .  .into 

East  India   ....    1625.] 
Smyth  on  6'^  of  Hosea. 
Discription  of  World  [by  G.  Abbot.   1620.] 
Cantelus  Cannon  of  Masse    [P.  Viret:  The  Cau teles,  Canon,  and 

Ceremonies  of  the  ....   Masse.] 


264     Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

Gods  mcy  &  Jurasa  misery 

Silu  Watch  bell   [by  T.  Tymme.] 

7  Sermons  by  VV.  B.    [Ms.  sermons  by  W.  Brewster.] 

Burton  ag^' Cholmely   [H.  Burton:  Babel  no  Bethel  ....  1629.] 

Sibbs  Saints  p''viledges    [1638.] 

Sibbs  Riches  of  mercy  [1638.] 

Regla  Vite  [Th.  Taylor:  Regula  Vitae.   1635.] 

Pilgrimes  p''fession  [by  T.  Taylor.    1622.] 

Sermon  at  Pauls  crosse 

Nature  &  grace    [lohn  Prime:  A  Treatise  of  ....   ] 

Perkins  of  Predestinacon 

Spirituall  trumpett 

Vox  Regis  [by  Tho.  Scott.  1623.] 

Barrowes  platforme 

Exposicon  of  Lords  prayer 

Comon  weale  of  England  [by  Sir  Tho.  Smith.] 

Right  way  of  peace   [?  R,  Bruce:  The  Way  to  true  Peace  .   .   .   .] 

4*''  pt  of  true  watch    [J.  Brinsley:  The  True  W^atch  and  Rule  of 

Life:  fourth  Part   ....    1624.] 
lohnson  on  Psalmes 
Byfield  paterne  of  [1627.] 
Duke  promises 

A  help  to  memorye  [and  discourse.    1621.    (Partly  in  verse).] 
p.  posicons  by  lohn  Sprint 
The  morality  of  law 
Cases  of  Conscience  by  Per[kins] 
Discouery  of  famyly  of  love  [by  lo.  Rogers.] 
Sermon  of  repentance 
Sermon  at  Paules  Crosse 
Sibbs  spirituall  maxims  [1637.] 

Memorable  conceits  [of  Divers  Noble  and  famous  personages] 
God  &  the  Kinge  [by  R.  Mockett.] 
Smyth  on  Riddle  of  Nebuchudnez. 
Estey  on  Comand"'^  &  51^'  Psalm 
Christians  dayly  walk  [by  Hy.  Scudder.  1620.] 
Exposicon  of  11  &  12  Reuelacon   [?by  Th.  Taylor.     1633.] 
Treatise  of  English  medicines  [by  T.  Bedford.   1615.] 
A  dialogue  of  desiderias    [Same  as  Barrowes  platforme.] 
A  supplycacon  to  the  King  [?  by  H.  Jacobs.   1609.] 


Appendix.  265 

Abba  father  [by  EInat.  Parr.   161 8.] 

Abrahams  tryall  discourse  [?  by  J.  Calvin.] 

Jacobbs  ladder  [by  Hy.  Smith.] 

Perkins  of  Imagina[tions] 

Burton  ChristI  question 

A  toyle  for  2  legged  foxes  [by  J.  Baxter.] 

A  cordiall  for  comfort    [by  Wm.  Chibald.    1625.] 

Zacheus  conuersion  [by  Jo.  Wilson.   1631.] 

Spirituall  touchstone  [1621.] 

Dearmies  advantage 

Englands  summons  [by  Tho.  Sutton.] 

Burton  wooing  his  Church 

Goulden  key  [openinge  the  locke  to  Eternal  Happynes.] 

A  remedy  against  famine  &  warr  [by  Jo.  Udall.] 

Treatise  against  popery  [?  by  Tho.  Stoughton.] 

Treatise  of  Gods  religion 


Books  Bequeathed  to  Harvard  College  by 
yohn  Harvard,^" 

Ambrosij  Dixionariu. 
*  Antonius  &  Gralerus  in  Seneca. 
Abernethyes  physick  for  the  soule. 
Analysis  Apocalypseos. 
Angloru  prslia. 
Aquinatis  Opa.    Conclusiones. 
Aynsworts  workes.     [Henry  Ainsworth:    Annotations  upon   the 

five  bookes  of  Moses,  the  booke  of  the  Psalms,  and  the  Song 

of  Songs,  or  Canticles.] 
Amesij  Theologiae  Medulla.    De  Consc:  In  Epistolas  Petrj.  contra 

Armin:    Bellarminus  Enervatus. 

*<■  Harvard  Library,  Bibliographical  Contributions,  No.  27,  p.  7  fF.  Explanations 
in  brackets  are  from  the  same  source.  It  should  be  noted  that  under  one  name 
several  titles  are  sometimes  given,  often  run  together  as  one  title.  [This  list 
has  been  revised  from  "Catalogue  of  John  Harvard's  Library"  by  Alfred  C. 
Potter,  Publications  of  the  Colonial  Society  of  Massachusetts,  xxi.  190-230. 
Ed.] 


266      Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

Augustinj  meditationes.    Opa. 

Alstedij  Physica  Harmonia.    Compendiu  Thelogiae. 

Apeius  in  Nov.  Testam'. 

Anatomy  Arminianisme  [by  Pierre  Du  Moulin]. 

Anchorani  porta  linguarum. 

Actus  Synodi  Nationalis. 

Acta  Synodalia. 

Aschamj  Epistolae. 

Arraingm'  of  the  whole  Creature. 

Alicalj  Emblemata. 

^sopi  fabulae. 

iEgidius  in  Arist.  Philos.  &  Metaph. 

Academia  Gallica. 

Bacrt'AiKOv  Stopov. 

Bezae  Test.  N.  cu  Annotat.  Test.  Graec.  Lat.    In  Epist.  ad  Galat:. 

Ephe. 
Baynes  on  Collos:.    Ephes. 
Bethneri  Gram:    Hebraa. 
Berchetj  Catechismus. 
Buxtorfi.  Dixionar.  Hebr:.  Gram:  hebr:. 
Beton  displaying  of  y*"  popish  Masse. 
Bellarmin.  de  fselicitate  sanctoru.   In  Psalm.    In  P  &  2^  Epist:   ad 

Thessalon.    Conciones. 
Bolton  in  4  volumnes. 
Ball  on  faith. 

Bastingius  on  Palatines  Catechisme. 
Brerewood  on  the  Sabbath. 
Bacons  advancem^    Essayes. 
Bannes  in  Arist:   de  Gen:   &  Corrup. 
Bovilij  Adagia. 
Bedse  Axiomata  Philosophica. 
Brentius  de  parabolis. 
Beards  theatre  of  Gods  judgm^^ 
Brerewoods  Tractatus  Logicus. 
Brentij  Pericopae  &c. 
Bullingerus  in  Isaj. 
Biblia  Tremelij  &  Junij. 
Bucani  Institutiones. 
Bradshewes  p''paration  for  the  Sacram^ 


Appendix.  267 

Broughton  on  the  revelat:   on  Eccles.    Positions  on  the  Bible.   On 

Daniel,  texts  of  Script,  chronol.  pamphlets. 
Baylyes  directions  for  health. 
Calvinus  in  Pent  &  Joshua.    Sermons  vpon  Job  in  English,    p'lec- 

tiones  in  Ezechiel.    Institut.  Religio.    Christ.    Tomus  4"=*  opu 

Theologicoru.      Harmonia.      In   Prophetas   min:  Homilia   in 

Samuelem.    In  Epistolas  Paulj.    In  Psalm. 
Camararij  meditationes  histor. 
Corradj  Casus  Consc. 

Church  his  God  &  man.    Good  mans  treasure. 
Camdens  remaines. 

Cleonardi.    [Entry  almost  illegible;    trimmed  off  by  binder.] 
Chysostinj  homilia.     [Chrysostom.] 
Castanej  Distinctiones. 

Calliopasia  [or,  a  rich  store-house  of  ...    .   phrases], 
Chrystopolitanj  opa. 
Christianity. 
Corner]  Psalteriu  Lat:. 
Curiel  in  Epist.   Thomae. 
Chareus  in  Epist. 
Cornelius  de  artibus  &  Scientijs.    In  Eccles:.    Prophetas  majores, 

&  minores,  in  Pent,  in  Epist:  Paulj.  in  Acta.  In  Prov.  in  7  vol. 
Clavis  graec:  Linguae. 
Comentariu  in  Horatiu  in  Fol. 

Coment:  in  4  Euangel.  &  Acta  Apost.    On  the  Prov. 
Cottons  concordance. 
Coment  in  Arist.  Phys.  de  anima. 
Cartwright  in  Eccles.  &  Prov. 
Collection  of  statutes. 
Conradus  in  Apocalyp. 
Carlton  ag®'  Pelag.  &  Armin. 
Chytreus  in  Apocal.  in  Levit.  in  Genes.  Numer.  in  Deut.  Ester. 

Judices  in  6  Tom. 
Characciolus  his  life. 
Catin.  Phrases. 
Danej  opa  Theolog.  Questiones.  de  salutaribus  dej  donis.  in  Math. 

his  comon  Ethicks. 
Dickson  on  hebr. 
Dictionariu  Anglic.  Historicu.  Geograp.  Poeticu.  Lat.  Graec. 


268     Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

Douna  his  warfare. 

Davenantius  in  Epist.  ad  Colios. 

Duns  Scotus  in  8  Libros  Arist.  Phys. 

Dove  on  the  Cant. 

Dike  on  the  hart,  his  mischeife  of  Scandalls. 

Death  subdued. 

Elton  on  the  Coiriandm*^. 

Epictetj  Enchyridion. 

Eustachij  Philosophia. 

Euphoranius. 

Erasmj  Colloquia. 

Elegant  Phrases. 

Garden  of  Eloquence. 

Exon  his  meditations. 

Essayes  morall  &  Theol. 

Francklin  op^orovias  lib,     [Tractatus  de  tonis  in  lingua  graecanica.] 

Funebres  Conciones  15. 

Fabritius  in  Hosea. 

Felthoms  resolues. 

Fuebernes  lapidua  Pasmaliensis. 

Fayus  in  Epist.  ad  Timoth. 

Feuardensius  in  Epist.  ad  Philemonem. 

Gualterus  in  Marcu. 

Golij  Ethicae. 

Griners  in  Dan. 

Goodwins  Aggravation  of  sin. 

Household  Phys: 

Haxions  praelections. 

The  honest  man, 

Hunnius  in  Joh:  Evangel. 

Hindersham  of  fasting.   On  the  Psal.  on  John  4.    1  Tom.    [Hilder- 

sam.] 
Hieronus  in  Haddanu  in  Isai. 
Horatius  cu  Stephanj  notis. 
Hemmingius  in  84  Psalm,  in  Epist.  ad  Colios:. 
Homers  workes  in  English.    [Chapman's  translation.] 
History  of  the  Church. 
Haylins  Geography. 
H  [One  title  trimmed  oflF.] 


Appendix.  269 

Hutton  agst  Comon  prayer  booke. 

Henshaws  meditations. 

Jackej  Instit.  Philos: 

Juvenalis. 

Isocratis  Orat:  Graec  &  Latin. 

Judic:  Synodi  Nationalis. 

Keckermannj  Philos.  Disput. 

Keckermanj  contemplat.  de  loco,  et  de  terrae-motu. 

Lutherus  in  Genesin.   Tomus  i"\  2"\  3"%  4"%  5"%  6"%  7"'. 

Luke  Angl. 

Loscij  Annotationes  Scolasticse. 

Lightfoots  Miscelanes. 

Lucanus. 

Lewes  right  vse  of  pmises. 

Lexicon  Graeco  Lat:. 

Lemnius  medicus  de  complexione. 

Londons  complaint.    [By  Benjamin  Spenser.] 

Lamentations. 

Lord  Verul:  Nat:  History. 

Livellj  Vita  &  in  Harding. 

Leigh  on  ye  pmises. 

Lumberds  Justice. 

Lycosthenjs  Apophthegmata.    Similia. 

Loscij  Questiones. 

Laurentij  opa. 

Mollerus  in  Psalmos. 

Marloratj  Thesaurus  Scripturae. 

Musculus  in  Psalmos.  Matthseu. 

Mollinaeus  contra  Arminios. 

Marlotj  Thesaurus  Scripturae. 

Magirj  Physica.  Anthropologia. 

Maxes  Sermons. 

Melanchj  Logica. 

Minshej  Dictionariu. 

A  Manuduction  to  Divinity. 

Martinij  Gram:  Hebr. 

Micomius  in  Marcu. 

Montanj  in  Psal.  Prov""  Comt.  &  Hebr. 

Moses  Vayled. 


270     Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

N.  Test.  Catholicj  Exposltio  Eccles: 
'  Nichols  mlrrour  for  Magistrates. 

N.  Test.  Lat. 

Nonae  Novemb.  aeternitatj  consecratse. 

Natales  Comes,  in  ig  Tomis. 

Osiandri  Psalm. 

Philosophers  Banquet.    [By  Sir  Michael  Scott.] 

Pfaltsgraues  Church. 

Polanj  Syntagma  Theologiae.    De  Legendo  cu  fructu. 

Piscator  17  Tomis. 

Pelagius  redivivus  Prin. 

Plin.  Nat.  Hist. 
5  Plutarch)  Vitae  Angl.  Moralia  Angl.    [North's  Plutarch.] 

Philippi  Homil:  in  Jonam. 

Pike  his  worthy  worthy  comunicant. 

Pareus  de  doctrina  X'''"^. 

Phochenius.    [Sebastian  Pfochen.] 
'  Plautus. 

Porcensis  orationes. 

Pet.  Martyr,  in  Epist.  ad  Rom.    Loci  Comunes. 

Piccolominej  Philos. 

Patresius  de  Regin.  &  reg:  Institutions 

Persij  Satyrse. 

Politianj  Epist. 

Passoris  Lexicon.  Graec.  Lat. 

Pellegronj  Sylva.    [Simon  Pelegromius:  Synonymorum  sylva.] 

Poetaru  flores. 

Pars  Workes. 

Pembles  workes.  de  origine  formaru. 

Preston  on  ye  Attributes.   4  Sermons. 

Physick  for  y*^  Soule. 

Pavenij  Ethicse.    [Francesco  Pavone:  Summa  ethicse.] 

Quirbj  coment:  in  Psalmos  &  Prophetas. 
'   Quarles  Poems. 

Reinolds  Vanity  of  y''  Creature.    Conference  w*^^  y*"  hart. 

Rogers  on  Luke  y*^  15. 

Rami  Graeca  Gram:  Lat.  Logica  cu  Talaej  Rhetorica,  Molinej  Log. 
vno  volum: 

Robinsons  Essayes. 


Appendix.  271 

Royardus  in  Epist:   Domin. 

Rogers,  his  Divinity.   On  Loue. 
.'  Roxanae  Tragedia. 

Reinoldi  Liber  de  Idololatria. 

Stola  in  Luca. 

Scultetj  opa. 

Schriblerj  metaphorae. 

Schickardi  gram.  haeb. 

Sibbs  fountaine  sealed. 

Spongia  contra  Jesuit.  Goloniu  cu  alijs  opibus  vno  vol.  compressis. 

Sphinx  Philosophy. 

Speeds  clowde  of  wittnesses. 

Scalliger  de  subtilitate. 

Scheibleri  philosoph.  compend. 

Sebati  Phys: 

Setonj  Dialectica. 

Sarcerj  Postilla. 

Soules  praeparation. 

Schenblerj  sententiae. 

Salustius. 

Smiths  Logicke. 

Scarfij  Symphonia. 

Saluthij  Schola. 
Sceiblerj  Synopsis  Philos. 
Saints  Legacyes. 
Test.  N.  Graec. 
Tossanj  Diction.  Hebr. 
■  Terentius. 
Touchstone  of  truth. 
Thrapuntij  rhetorica. 
Thesaurus  poeticus. 
Textoris  Epitheta.  Epist. 
Test.    [Trimmed  off.] 

Twissus  de  gratia,  potestate  &  Providentia. 
Taylour  on  Titus,  on  Revel.  12. 
Trunesse  on  X'^"  religion. 
Turner]  Orationes. 

Terus  in  Exod.  Num.  Deut.  Josh.  Jud. 
Thesaurus  linguae  rom:  &  Brittanicae  in  fol. 


272      Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

Thomie  Aquinatis  opa. 

TuUij  opa  in  2  Tomis.    de  officijs. 

Tyme  well  spent. 

Treasury  of  God. 

Vorsius  de  Deo, 

Vdalls  Heb^  Gram:. 

Valerius  Max:. 

Vocatio  Judaeoru. 

Warwicks  Meditations. 

Wall  on  Acts  18.  V^  28. 

Withers. 

Weames  4'^  Vol.  of  y*^  Image  of  God  in  man.  on  the  Lawes  morall, 

ceremoniall,  Judiciall. 
Willsons  X'^"  Dictionary. 

Watsonj  animae  Gaudia.    [Amintae  gaudia.    A  poem.] 
Whakly  his  new  birth.     [William  Whately:    The  new  birth,  or  a 

treatise  of  regeneration.] 
Wygandus  de  psec.  pioru  exilijs. 
Wandelinj  Contemplatio  Phys.  Tom  3. 
Wardes  Sermons. 
Zanchij  Opa. 


Selected  'Titles  from  the  172J  Catalogue 
of  the  Harvard  Library, 


Fol 


10 


Aristophanis  Comaediae 

Bacon  History  of  the  Reign  of  K.  Henry  VII 

Bacon  Instauratio  Magna 

Bacon  Natural  History 

Bacon  9  Books  of  the  Advancement  of  Learning 

Browne,  Sir  T.  Pseudodoxia  Epidemica 

Brahe,  Tychonis  Historia  Ctelestis 

Bertii  Theatri  Geographias  Veteris 

BuUialdi  Astronomia  Philolaica 


Appendix. 


'^IZ 


Baudoin 

Mythologie 

Bochas 

Tragedies  translated  into  Englishe  by  John 

Lidgate,  Monk  of  Burye 

Burnet,  Tho. 

Theory  of  the  Earth 

Clarendon 

History  of  the  Rebellion 

Chaucer 

Works  [title  page  missing] 

Chapman,  Geo. 

English  Homer 

Cambden 

Britannia 

Cambden 

History  of  Q.  Elizabeth 

Clark,  Sam. 

Lives  of  sundry  eminent  Persons 

Collier,  Jer. 

Great    Historical    and    Chronological    Dic- 

tionary, and  Supplement  to  same. 

Cowley,  Abrah. 

Works 

Danyel 

Collection  of  the  History  of  England 

Demosthenes 

Orationes 

Dalton 

Country  Justice 

Eadmerl 

Historia  Novorum 

Euclid 

Elements  translated  by  H.  Billingsley 

Euripidis 

Tragediae 

Fuller,  Tho. 

Church  History  of  Britain 

Fuller,  Tho. 

Pisgah  sight  of  Palestine 

Fuller,  Tho. 

History  of  the  Holy  War 

Fuller,  Tho. 

Holy  and  Profane  State 

Fougasses,  Tho.  de 

General  History  of  Venice 

Godwini 

Rerum  Anglican.  Hen.  8.  Edvac  6.  et  Maria 

regantibus  Annales 

Guicciardines 

History  of  the  Wars  of  Italy,  English'd  by 

Fenton 

Guicciardi. 

La  Description  de  tous  les  pais  bas 

Grymestone 

Imperial  History 

Godfrey  of  BoUogn  \jic\  or  the  Recovery 

of  Jerusalem 

Gassendi 

Operum  omnium,  6  vols. 

Gassendi 

Astronomia 

Galeni 

Opera 

Gerhard 

Herbal 

Grew 

Catalogue  and  Description  of  the  Rarities 

of  the  Royal  Society 

Guillims 

Display  of  Heraldry 

274      Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

Hackluit  Voyages 

Hyde,  Tho.  Catalogus   Librorum   impressorum    Biblio- 

thecse  Bodleiana^  in  Academia  Oxoniensi 
Heylin  Cosmography 

Hugo  Seige  |  sic]  of  Breda 

Holingshed  Chronicle  of  England,  Scotland,  Ireland 

History  of  K.  Charles 
Harrington  Common-wealth  of  Oceana 

Harris  Collection  of  Voyages  &  Travels 

Hendy  Historia  Mundi,  or  Mercator's  Atlas  recti- 

fied 
Hormi  Geographia  vetus  Sacra  et  Profana 

Hevellii  Machinae  Coelestis 

Hevellii  Cometographia 

Hevellii  Selenographia 

Hayes  Treatise  of  Fluxions 

Hugenii  Horologium  oscillatorum 

Hill  Account  of  the  Ottoman  Empire 

Harris  Lexicon  Technicum 

Herbert,  Lord  Life  of  K.  Henry  VIII 

Herbert,  Lord  Compleat  History  of  England 

Hondius  Atlas 

Howel  Institution  of  the  General  History  of  World 

Josephus  Antiquities  and  Wars  of  the  Jews,  English'd 

by  Lodge 
Jonstoni  Hist.  Naturalis  de  Piscibus,  de  Insectis,  de 

Serpent.,  etc. 

Introductorium  Astronomicum 
Huygen  Itinerario,  Voyage  ofte  Schipvaert 

Kircheri  CEdipus  ^gyptiacus 

Kircheri  De  Arte  magnetica  opus  tripart 

A  Kalendar  of  the  Statutes  of  England 
Keeble  Statutes  at  large,  1684 

Kersey  Algebra 

Keckermann  Operum  omnium 

Lessii  Opuscula 

Lessii  De  Justitia  et  Jure 

Liceti  De  Intellectu 

Liceti  De  spontaneo  viventium  ortu 


Appendix. 


275 


Longomontani 
Matchiavel 
Montanus 
Munsteri,  Seb. 
Majoris,  Joh. 
More,  Henry 
More,  Henry 
Minshei 
Minshei 
Montaigne 

Newton 
Ortelii 

Petiti 

Prideauxii 

Plutarch 

Prynne 

Prynne 

Purchase 

Pulton 

Piccolominei 

Plinii 

Plinii 

Ptolomaei 

Pappi  Alexandrini 

Parkinson 
Parkinson 
Perrault 

Riccioli 

Riccioli 

Riccioli 

Riccioli 

Rushworth 

Richardson 


The  Lighting  Colomne  or  Sea-Mirror 

Logarithmical  Arithmetick 

Astronomia  Danica 

Florentine  History 

Atlas  Japannensis,  English'd  by  Ogilby 

Cosmographias 

Opera  in  Artes  quas  liberales  vocant 

Philosophical  Writings 

Operum  omnium 

Ductor  in  Linguas 

Spanish  and  English  Dictionary 

Essays,  London  16 13 

Massachusett-Law-Book 

Trigonometry 

Theatrum  Orbis  Terrarum 

Ortus  Sanitatis 

Leges  Atticae 

Marmora  Oxoniensia;  ex  Arundelianis,  etc. 

North's  Translation 

History  of  K.  John,  K.  Henry  3.  &  K.  Ed.  i. 

Canterbury's  Doom 

Pilgrimes 

Collection  of  Statutes 

Universa  Philosophia  de  moribus 

Historic  Mundi 

Natural  History,  translated  by  Holland 

Liber  Geographiae  cum  Tabulis 

Mathematicae    Collectiones,  cum  interpre- 

tatione  et  illustratione  F.  Commandini 
Theatre  of  Plants 
Garden  of  Flowers 
Treatise  of  the   5   Orders  of  Columns  in 

Architecture 
Chronologia  Reformata 
Astronomia  Reformata 
Almagestum  Novum 
Geograph.  et  Hydrograph.  Reformatae 
Historical  Collections  161 8-1629 
State  of  Europe 


276      Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 


Raleigh 

Roberts 

Rudolphinse 

Ricettario 

Riolanus 

A  Soto 
De  Serres 
Stuckii 
Schedel 

Speed 


Sandys,  G. 

Socinatis 

Seldeni 

Seldeni 

Scaligeri 
Stephani,  Carol 
Stapylton 
Suarez 
Scharpii 
Spelmanni 
Seller,  J. 
Seller,  J. 
Speed 

Schotii 

Sempilii  Craigbataei 

Sylvatici 

Strype 

Spotswood 
Thuani 


History  of  World 

Map  of  Commerce 

Tabulae,  ex  Editione  Joan.  Kepleri 

Medicinale  Fiorentino 

Surest  Guide  to  Physick  and  Surgery,  Eng- 

lish'd  by  Culpeper 
De  Justitia  et  Jure  Libri 
History  of  France,  translated  by  Grymeston 
Antiquitatum  Convivialium 
De  Historiis  /Etatum    Mundi  ac  Descrip- 

tione  Urbium  Collect. 
History  of  Great  Britain 
Statutes  at  large  from  the  35  of  Q.  Eliza- 
beth to  4  of  K.  Charles 
Statutes  at  Large  from  Magna  Charta  to 

the  29th  of  Queen  Elizabeth 
His  Travels 

Quaestiones  Metaphysicales 
Liber  de  Successionibus  in  bona  defuncti  ad 

Leges  Hebraorum 
de  Jure  natural,  et  Gentium  juxta  Disci- 

plinam  Hebraorum 
Opus  de  Emendatione  Temporum 
Dictionarium  Historic.  Geograph.  Poetic. 
English  Juvenal 

Metaphysicarum  Disputationum 
Methodus  Philosophiae  Peripateticae 
Archaeologus 
Sea  Atlas 
Atlas  Terrestris 
Prospect  of  the  most  famous  parts  of  the 

World 
Cursus  Mathematicus 
de  Disciplinis  Mathematicis 
Opus  Pandectarum  Medicinae 
Memorials  of  A.Bp.  Cranmer 
Dr.  Sacheverel's  Tryal 
History  of  the  Church  of  Scotland 
Historiarum  Sui  Temporis 


Appendix. 


277 


Tacqueti 
Tarvernier 

Usserii 

Virgilii,  Poly. 
Vincentio 

Victae 

Wing 

Wallis 

Wirtzung 

Willis 

Xenophon 

Xenophon 


Zuingeri 

Zabarella 

Zabarella 

Zabarella 

Zabarella 


Opera  Mathematica 

Travels 

Annales 

Historite  Anglicae 

Opus  Geometricum  Quadraturae   Circuli  et 

Sectionum  Coni 
Opera  Mathematica 
Astronomia  Brittanica 
Treatise  of  Algebra 
General  Practice  of  Physic  in  English 
Remaining  Physical  Works 
Opera  omnia 
History  of  the  Ascent  of  Cyrus  English'd 

by  Bingham 
Yearbook  under  K.  Henry  V.  and  K.  Henry 
VI.    From  the  40  to  the  50  of  Edw.  III. 
Young  Students  Library  by  the  Athenian 

Society,  1692 
Theatri  Humanae  Vitae 
Comment,  in  Aristot.  Libros  Physicorum 
Opera  Logica 
De  Rebus  naturalibus 
Comment,  in  Aristot.  Libros  de  anima 


Althusii 

Alphonsinae 

Anderson 


Balduini 
Butler 
Boetii,  Anselm 


Boyle 
Boyle 


Quarto 

Politica 

Tabulae,  edente  Paschasio  Hamellio 

Of  the  Genuine  use  of  the  Gunne 

Acta  Eruditorum  Publicata  Lipsiae,  from 
1682  to  1698  inc. 

Ibid.,  Supplements  for  1692  and  1696 

Tractat.  de  Casibus  Conscientiae 

History  of  Bees 

Gemmarum  et  Lapidum  Historia 

Brittain's  Busse,  with  a  Discovery  of  New- 
foundland and  a  Discovery  of  Trade 

Philosophical  Essays 

Tracts  of  the  Admirable  Rarefaction  of  the 
Air,  &c. 


278      Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 
Boyle 


Boyle 
Boyle 
Bannes 

Brathwait 
Brerewoodi 
Buridani 
Balfourii 
Balfourii 
Brinsly 

Brahe,  Tychon 
Brahe,  Tycho 
Brahe,  Tycho 

Bariffe 

Barrow 

Barrow 


Brown's  &  Wottons 

Branker 

Bond 

Blackborrow 

Binning 

Balloni 

DuBartas 

Cawdry 

Cambden 

Cambden 

Cambden 

Cominoei 

Contareno 
Contareno 

Carew 
Camerarii 


Experiments  Physico-Mechanical  touching 

the  Air 
Natural  Philosophy 
Of  forms  &  Qualities 
Quaestiones    et    Comment,    in    Duos    Lib. 

Aristot.  de  Generatione  et  Corruptione 
English  Gentleman 
Tractatus  quidam  Logici 
Qusstiones  in    10  Libros  Ethicorum  Arist. 
Comment,  in  Organum  Logicum  Aristot. 
In  Aristotelis  Philosophiam 
Ludus  literarius;  or  the  Grammar  School 
Astronomiae  instauratae 
Operum  omnium 
De  Mundi  ^therei  recentioribus  Phaenom- 

enis 
Military  Discipline 
Lectionis  Opticse  et  Geomet. 
lUustrat.    in   opera   Archimedis,   in   Libros 

Conicorum  Apollonii  &  in  Spherica  Theo- 

dosii 
Mirror  &  Rules  of  Architecture 
Introduction  to  Algebra 
Longitude  found 
Longitude  not  found 
Light  to  the  Art  of  Gunnery 
Conciliorum  medicinalium 
Poems 

Storehouse  of  Similies 
Remains 
Britannia 
Britannia  abridged 
De   Rebus   Gestis   Ludov.   XL 

Regis 
Common- Wealth  and  Government  of  Venice 
Commentaries  concerning  Religion  and  the 

Common-Wealth  of  France 
Survey  of  Cornwal 
Meditationes  Historicae 


Galli 


aiiiarum 


Appendix. 


279 


Champlain 

Cognet 

Cartesii 

Cartesii 

Cartesii 

Cavallerii 

Carpenter 

Campanellae 

Carpi 

Cartesii 

Calovii 

Craig 

Chokieri 

Digby,  K. 

Digbei,  E. 

Dufortii 

Donelli 

Everarti 


Fuente 

Florio 

Feltham 

Goodwin 

Gainsford 

Gregorii  XIII 

Guicciardini 

Giles 

Godwyn 

Guevara 

Guevara 

le  Grand 

Golding 

Glanvil 

Galilaei 

Goclenii 

Gadbury 


Voyages  de  la  nouvelle  France 

Politick  Discourses  of  Truth  &  Lying 

Meditationes  de  Prima  Philosophia 

Principia  Philosophiae 

EpistoltE  Lat. 

Directorium  Generale  Uranometricum 

Geography 

Medicinalium 

Anatomia 

Geometria 

Encyclopaedije  Mathematicae 

Religionis  Christianae  princip.  Mathemat. 

Thesaurus  Aphorismorum  Politicorum 

Treatise  of  Bodies 

Theoria  Analytica  viam  ad  monarchiam 

Gnomologia  Homerica 

in  Titulum  de  Usuris  in  Pandectis 

Ephemerides  Novae  et  Exactae 

Essays  of  Natural  Experiments  made  in  the 

Academy    del    Cimento,    translated    by 

Waller 
Quaestiones  Dialecticae  et  Physicae 
First  Fruits 
Resolves 

Select  Cases  of  Conscience 
Glory  of  England 
Corpus  Juris  Canonici 
Historia  d'ltalia 

Hist.  Ecclesiastique  des  Eglises  reformees 
Jewish  and  Roman  Antiquities 
Dial  of  Princes.    English'd  by  North 
Familiar  Epistles 
Institutio  Philosophiae  secundum  Principia 

Renat.  des  Cartes 
Translation  of  Ovid's  Metamorphoses 
Scepsis  Scientifica 
Dialogus  de  Systemate  Mundi 
Apologeticus  pro  astromantia  Discursus 
Ephemerides  from  1672  to  1681 


28o     Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England 
Hales 


Hottingeri 
Hanmer 
Hackluit 

Herodian  of  Alex. 
Husband 


Hayward 

Heylin 

Hugenii 

Hopton 

Heurnii 

Hawksbee 

Harry 

Jamesii 

Lucy 

Lithgow 
Lorhardi 
Lowthorp 

Liceti 

Lansbergii,  P, 
Lansbergii,  J. 

Leyburn 

Langham 

Luytsii 

Luytsii 

H-Mercurlo  Overo 

Miltoni 

Masii 


Golden  Remains 

History  of  Italy 

History  of  Life  of  Philip  de  Mornay 

Historia  Orientalis 

View  of  Antiquity 

History  of  the  West  Indies 

History  of  the  Roman  Caesars 

Exact  Collections  of  Remarkables  between 
the  King  and  Parliament  from  1641  to  1643 

History  of  the  Reformation  of  the  Church 
of  Scotland 

Lives  of  the  3  Norman  Kings  of  England 

Little  Description  of  the  Great  World 

Systema  Saturnium 

Geodetical  Staffe 

Praxis  Medicinae 

Physico-Mechanical  Experiments 

Genealogy  of  K.  James  I 

Catalogus  Librorum  in  Bibliotheca  Bod- 
leiana 

Observations  of  Notorious  Errors  in  Hobb's 
Leviatha 

Voyages 

Theatrum  Philosophicum 

Abridgement  of  the  Philosophical  Transac- 
tions &  Collections  to  the  end  of  1700 

Controversiae  de  Cometis 

Commentationes  in  motum  Terrae 

Apologia  pro  Comment.  Philip.  Lansberg. 
in  Motum  Terrae,  adversus  Libert. 

Geometrical  Exercises  for  young  Seamen 

Garden  of  Health 

Introduction  ad  Geographiam 

Introd.  ad  Astronomiam 

Historia  de'  correnti  tempi 

Defensio  pro  populo  Anglicano  cont.  Sal- 
masium 

In  universam  x'\ristotelis  Philosophiam  Com- 
ment. 


Appendix. 


281 


M.  Meurisse  Royen. 
Martialis 

Macchiavel. 
Macchiavel. 
Moore 
Molerii 

Moxon 
Moxon 
Markham,  G. 
Morisani 


Newton,  Isaac 
Norwoods 
Origani,  D. 

Oates,  Titus 
Pitsei,  J. 
Pezelii 
Perrin 


[Langland] 
Platinae 
Prideaux 
Prynne 

Prynne 

Prynne 
Prolomaei,  A. 


Rerum  Metaphysicarum 

Epigrammatum  Libri  Comment.     Remirez 

de  Prsedo  illustrati 
Discours  de  L'Estat  de  paix  et  de  Guerre 
Art  of  War.     English'd  by  P.  Withorne 
System  of  the  Mathematicks 
Accurata    descriptio    Ecleipsium    Solis    et 

Lunas  1505  &  1607 
Tutor  to  Astronomy  &  Geography 
Use  of  the  Copernican  Sphaeres 
Masterpiece 

Apotelesma  in  Aristot.  Logic.  Physi.  Ethic. 
Miscellanea    Curiosa:    sive    Ephemeridum 

Medico-Physicarum  Germanicarum,  1670 
to  1694,  inc.,  with  Index,  1693 
Nomenclator    autorum    omnium    quorum 

Libri    extant    in    Bibliotheca    Academ. 

Lugd.  Batav. 
Opticks 
Trigonometry 
Ephemerides    Brandenburgica,    1 595-1655, 

inc. 
Picture  of  K.  James 
de  Rebus  Anglicis 
Mellificium  Historicum 
History  of  the  Waldenses  &  Albigenses 
Prelates  Tyranny    ....    Prosecution  of 

Prynne,  Bastwick  and  Burton 
Parliaments     Diurnal    Occurrences,    Nov. 

1640-N0V.  1 64 1 
The  Vision  of  Pierce  Plowman,  1650 
Historia  de  Vitis  Pontificum 
Introduction  for  Reading  Histories 
Antipathy  of  Prelacy  to  Regal  Monarchy 

and  Civil  Unity 
Sovereign  Power  of  Parliaments  and  King- 
doms 
Histrio-mastix 
Geographia,  Interprete  Pirckheimherio 


282      Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

Philosophical  Transactions,  Savoy.  1665- 
1678,  and  Philosophical  Collections  to 
No.  7 

Primaudaye  French  Academy 

Polluce  Onomasticon 

Petisci  Trigonometria 

Palmer  Catholick  Planisphaere 

Philai,  sive  de  vero  Systemate  Mundi 

Plateri  Praxeos  Medicae 

Phrygii  Comment,  in  Hist.  Epidemicas  Hippocratis 

Paaw  De    Ossibus    Human.     Corporis    primitise 

Anatomicae 

Poeton  Chirurgeon's  Closet 

PufFendorfii  De  Jure  Naturae  &  Gentium 

Pisis  Pantheologiae 

Placaei  Opuscula  Nonnulla 

Robinson  Essays  Moral  and  Divine 

Of  Resisting  the  Lawful  Magistrate 

Robinson  Justification  of  the  separation 

Reasons  of  the  Necessity  of  the  Reforma- 
tion in  England 

Reineccii  Chronici  Hierosolymitani 

Ruvii  In  8  Lib.  Aristot.  de  Physico  Auditu  Com- 

ment. 

Ruvii  In  universam  Aristot.  Dialectiam  Comment. 

Regii  Philosophia  Naturalis 

Raci  Clavis  Philosophise  ....    seu  introductio 

ad  naturae  Contemplationem  Aristotelico- 
Cartesiana 

Rami  Arithmet.-Geometr. 

Rami  Scholarum  Mathemat. 

Reinoldi  Prutenicae  Tabulae  caelestium  motuum 

Rossaei  Commentum  de  motu  Terrae  circulari  refu- 

tatum 

Smith  Essex  Dove 

Swinnock  Of  the  Dignity  &  Beauty  of  Magistracy  and 

the  Duty  of  the  Magistrates 

Seldeni  De  Synedriis  &  Praefecturis  Juridicis  Vet. 

Hebra. 


Appendix. 


283 


Stow 

Simancae 

Soto 

Sabatecii 

Scoti,  J.  Duns 

Scoti,  J.  Duns 

Suarez 

Sophoclis 

Sylvayn's 

Street 

Schooten 

Scheineri 

Sennerti 

Senguerdii 

Schroderi 

Tarich 

Toleti 


Terrence 
Usserii 
Usserii 
Usserii 

Ubaldino 

Vossii 

Vossii 

Vossii 

Velagut 


Vries 

Wickliff 

Waseri 


Wright 
Wallis 

Wing 


Annals  of  England 

De  Republica  Lib.  XI. 

Quaest.  in  8  Lib.  Physicorum  Aristot. 

Logica  Pet.  Rami  florens 

in  Isagogen  Porphyrii  et  in  Aristot. 

in  8  Lib.  Physicorum  Aristotelis 

Metaphysicarum  Disputationum  Syllabus 

Tragedise  7 

Orator  in  English 

Astronomia  Carolina 

Exercitationes  Mathematicae 

Fundamentum  Opticum 

De  febribus 

Philosophia  naturalis 

Thesaurus  Linguae  Aremenicae 

Series  Regum  Persiae  cum  Comment. 

Introductio    in    Universam    Aristot.    Logi- 

cam   Comment,   una   cum    Quaest.   in  3 

libros  Aristotelis  de  Anima 
Andria  Latin  &  English 
Veterum  Epistolarum  Hybernicarum  Sylloge 
Brittanic.  Ecclesiarum  Antiquitates 
Qusstionis    de    Ecclesiarum      Successione 

Historica  Explicatio 
Vita  de  Carlo  magno  imperadore 
De  Origine  &  Progressu  Idololatriae 
De  Historicis  Graecis 
De  Historicis  Latinis 
Practica  Canonica  Criminalis  secund.   Juris 

Communis  ac  Doctorum  antiquorum  et 

recentium  Decreta 
Exercitationes  Rationales 
Complaint  to  the  King  and  Parliament 
De  Antiquis  numis  Hebraeorum,  Chaldse- 

orum  &  Syriorum 
Errors  in  Navigation  detected 
Mechanica,  sive  de  motu  Tractat.  Geomet- 
ric 
Ephemerides  from  1672  to  1681 


284     Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 


Wardi 
Zanardi 
Zanardi 
Zanardi 


Idea  Trigometriae 

Comment,  cum  Quaest.  in  Logicam  Aristot. 
Disputatio  de  Universe  Elementari 
Disputationes  de  triplici  universe 


Appiano 
Adami 


Angli 

Angli 

Amama 

Amyraldi 

Alstedii 

Aristot. 

Alciati 

Agrippae,  H.  C. 

Aviani 

Aristot. 

Aesopi 


Alchmariani 

Boyle,  R. 
Boyle,  R. 
Boyle,  R. 
Brooke 
Buchanani 
Batei 
Benzonis 
Bembo 
Bale,  J. 


Octavo,  Etc. 

delle  guerre  Civili  de  Romani 

Vitae  Germanorum.   Theologorum 

Antiquitas  Academ.  Cantabrigens.  &  Ox- 
oniens. 

An  Abridgement  of  the  Chronicles  of  Scot- 
land 

Euclides  Metaphysicus 

Euclides  Physicus 

Dissertationum  Marinarum  Decas. 

De  Libero  Arbitrio  Disputatio 

Logicae  Systema  Harmonicum 

de  Moribus  lib.  10 

Emblemata  cum  Comment. 

De  Incertitudine  et  Vanitate  omnium  Sci- 
entarum  Liber 

Clavis  Poeseos  Sacrae 

Artis  Rhetorice 

Fabulae 

Apologies  of  Justin  Martyr,  TertuUian  & 
Minutius  Foelix,  Englished  by  Reeves 

Ars  Sciendi 

Instit.  Astronom. 

Annals  of  King  George,  Vol.  i. 

Of  the  Style  of  the  Scriptures 

His  Seraphic  Love 

Occasional  Reflections 

Of  the  Nature  of  Truth 

Paraphrasis  Poetica  Psalmorum 

Elenchi  motuum  nuperorum  in  Anglia 

Novae  novi  orbis  Historic 

Letters 

Of  Actes  or  Unchaste  Exemples  of  the  Eng- 
lyshe  Votaries 


Bedae 

Baconis 
Barclai,  J. 
Boyle,  R. 
Boyle,  R. 

Boyle,  R. 
Boyle,  R. 
Boyle,  R. 
Boaysteau 
Burgersdicii 
Boehmen 
de  Bosnay 


Butleri 

Burgersdicii 

Baronii 

Baconis 

Baconis 

Baconis 

Buscheri 

Barclai 

Beroaldi 

Buchleri 

Brown 

Boehmen 

Boehmen 

Boehmen 

Brodrick 

Becheri 

Brome 

Casaubon 
Casaubon 
Crantzii 


Appendix.  285 

Venerabilis    Historia   Ecclesiastic.     Gentis 

Anglorum 
Historia  Henrici  Septimi 
Argenis 

Tracts  about  Cosmical  Qualities 
New  Experiments  touching  the  Relation  of 

Air  and  Flame 
Experiments  about  Colours 
Cogitationes  de  Sacrse  Scripturae  Stylo 
Paradoxa  Hydrostatica 
Theatrum  mundi  translated  into  English 
Collegium  Physicum 
Aurora,  das  ist  Morgen  Rothe 
Cosmopolite,   ou    nouvelle   Lumiere   de   la 

Physique  naturale  avec    une   Traictedu 

Soulphre 
Rhetoricse 

Institutionum  Logicarum 
Metaphysica 
Historia  Ventorum 
Historia  Vitae  &  Mortis 
Essays,  1668 

Harmonise  Logicae  Philipporaneae 
Satyricon 
Declamationes 
Thesaurus  Poeticus 

Description  &  Use  of  Triangular  Quadrant 
Opera  nonnulla  Teutonic 
De  Signatura  Rerum 
Josephus  Redivivus 
Compleat  History  of  the  late  War  in  the 

Netherlands 
Supplementum  secundum  in  Physicam  Sub- 

terraneam 
Travels  over  England,  Scotland,  &  Wales 
Chroniche  Antiche  d'  Inglilterra 
Treatise  of  Enthusiasm 
Diatriba  de  Verborum  Usu 
Metropolisjsive Historia Ecclesiast.  Saxoniae 


286      Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

Caesar  Commentarii    tradotti    [into    Italian]    per 

Ortica 
Caesarii,  Joan  Rhetorica 

Camdeni  Annales  Rerum  ....  regnante  Elizabetha 

Constitucyons  Provincialles;  and   of  Otho 

&  Octobone  translated  into  English 
Comine  Ses  Memoires 

Comitis  Mythologiae 

Casmanni  Marinarum   Quaestionum     tractatio   Philo- 

sophica  bipartita 
Cujacii  Paratila  in  Libros  50  digestorum  seu  Pan- 

dectarum  et  in  Libros  9.  Codicis  Justiniani 
Comenii  Janua  Linguar.  Gr.  &  Lat. 

Comenii  Janua  Linguar.  Trilinguis 

Comenii  Janua  Linguarum  Referata 

Camdeni  Institutis  Grammatices  Graecae 

Ceporini  Compendium  Grammaticae  Graecas 

Celestina  Tragicomedia  de  Calisto  y  Melibea 

Case,  M.  de  la  Le  Galatee  ou  des  facons  et  maniers  lou- 

ables 
Causini  Tragediae  Sacrae 

Culpeper  English  Physician  enlarged 

Craig  Scotland's  Sovereignty  asserted 

Clarendon  History  of  the  Rebellion 

Cross  Taghmical  Art 

Donne  History  of  the  Septuagint 

Delrii  Disquisitionum  Magicarum 

Doctrina  Antiqua  de  Natura  Animae 
Drax,  Tho.  Calliepeia,  or  Rich  store-house  of  Phrases 

Donne  Essayes 

Digby  Discours  touchant  la  Guerison  par  la  poudre 

de  sympathie 
Disquisitiones  Politicae 
Danaei  Aphorismorum  Politicorum  Sylva 

Donaldson!  Synopseos  Philosoph.  Moralis 

Derham  Astrotheology 

Eitzen  Ethicae  Doctrina 

Eberi  Calendarium  Historicum 

Elenchus  Motuum  Nuperorum  in  Anglia 


Appendix. 


287 


Euripidis 
Erasmi 

Freigii 

Fells 
Fasciculus 

Fabri 
Frommen 
Fabritii 
Figon 


Fichet 

Fuchsii 

Fuchsii 

Fuchsii 

Frambesarii 

Fregii 

Grotii 

Grotii 

Grotii 

Grotii 

Grotii 

Grotii 

Grotii 

Grotii 

Grotii 

Grotii 

Gaule 

Gaule 

Gale 

Grotest 

Greaves 

Goodwin 

Gumble 


Elementa  Jurisprudentiae 

Tragsediae 

Moriae  Encomium,  cum    Ludo    Senecae  de 

Morte  Claudii  Coesaris 
Quaestiones    Instinianae    in   Institut.  Juris 

Civilis 
Life  of  Dr.  H.  Hammond 
Praeceptorum  Logicorum,  una  cum  Crack- 

anthorpii  Introductione ad  Metaphysicam 
Cursus  Physicus  et  Metaphysicus 
Exercitationes  Metaphysicae 
Poemata 
Discours  des  Estats  &  des  Offices  tant  de 

Gouvernement  que  de  la  Justice,  &  des 

Finances  de  France 
Arcana  Studiorum  Methodus 
Opera  nonulla 
Institutiones  Medicinae 
Historia  stirpium 

Scholae  medicae  Examen  practicum 
Paedagogus 
De  jure  Belli  ac  Pacis 
In  Cassandri  Consultationem  annotata 
De  Imperio  summarum  Potestatum 
Apologeticus 

Votum  pro  pace  Ecclesiast. 
Defensio  fidei  Catholicae 
Animadversiones  in  Andr.  Riveti 
Opera  nonnulla  Argumenti  Theolog.  Jurid. 

Politic 
Et  Aliorum  Dissertationes 
Epistolas  ad  Gallos 
Distractions 
Practique  Theories 
Theophilie 

Tractatus  de  Cessatione  Legalium 
Pyramidographia 
Mystery  of  Dreams 
Life  of  General  Monck 


288     Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 


Guicciardini 

Guicciardini 
Golii 

Galei 

Guillet,  Dame  du 

Galilaei 

Gilfusii 

Hammond 

Herodoti 

Hayward 


Heerebordi 

Harvei 

Hotomani 

Hotomani 

Hesselbein 

Hewis 

Horatii  Flac. 

Hieroclis 

Holliband 

Herbert 

Jovii 

Jure 

Jamblicus 

Jacchei 

Jacobi  Regis 

King  James 
Juvenalis  et  Persii 
Junii 
Johnson 


Historiarum  sui  Temporis 

Fragmentum 

Epitome  Doctrinae  moralis  ex  lo  Lib. 
Ethic.  Aristot. 

Philosophia  Generalis 

The  Gentleman's  Calling 

Rithmes  &  Poesies 

Nuncius  Sydereus 

Opusculum  Politicum 

Great  Treaty  of  Peace 

Of  Fundamentals  in  a  Notion  referring  to 
Practise 

Historic 

Life  of  K.  Edw.  6.  &  Q.  Elizabeth 

Historia  Ecclesiastica  del  Scisma  del  Reyno 
de  Inglaterra 

Historia  Persecutionum  Ecclesiae  Bohemicae 

Collegium  Ethicum 

Exercitationes  de  Generatione  Animalium 

J.  C.  Quaestionum  illustrium 

Partitiones  Juris  Civilis 

Theoria  Logica 

Survey  of  English  Tongue  &  Phrases 

Poemata 

Philosop.  Comment,  in  Aurea  Pythagoreo- 
rum  Carmina 

Campo  de  Fior — flowery  Field  of  four  Lan- 
guages 

Temple,  or  Sacred  Poems 

Historiarum  sui  Temporis 

Life  of  M.  de  Reuty  Nobleman  of  France 

de  Mysteriis  yEgyptiorum 

Primae  Philosophiae  Institutiones 

Daemonologia 

Index  Expurgatorius 

Apology  for  the  Oath  of  Allegiance 

Satyrae 

Vindiciae  contra  Tyrannos 

Lexicon  Chymicum 


Appendix, 


289 


Josephus 

Johnstoni 

Kempisii 

Keckermanni 

Keppleri 

Lawson 


Lucani 

Light  foot 


Laurentii 

Leoni 

Langii 

Liddelii 

Lydii 

Meisneri 

Meisneri 

Meisneri 

More 

Matchiavelli 

Magiri 

Martini 

Martini 

Martini 

Molinaei 

Melanchthon 

Meurier 

Moore 

Mercatoris 

Mead 

Moroni 
Manuiti 
Mather,  Inc. 
Mather,  Inc. 
Mather,  Inc. 


Works 

Idea  Universse  Medicinae  Practicae 

De  Imitatione  Christi 

Systema  Logicae 

Epitomes  Astron.  Copernicanae 

Examination  of  Hobbs  Leviathan 

Lettre  Escrite  a  Monsieur  le  Coq.  Charen- 

ton 
de  Bello  Civili 
Miscellanies 
Letters   between   the  Ld.  George   and  Sr. 

Kenelme  Digby 
Historia  Anatomica 
Ars  Medendi 

Elementare  Mathematicum 
Ars  Medica 
Waldensia 

Dissertatio  de  Legibus 
Anthropologiae  Sacrae 
Disputationes  quinque 
Chronology 

Disputat.  de  Republica 
Physiologiae  Peripateticae 
Exercitationum  Metaphysic. 
Logicarum  Institut. 
Praelectiones     extemporaneae    in     Systema 

Logicum  Keekermanni 
Elementa  Logica 
Epitomes  Philosoph.  moralis 
Magazin  de  Plante  en  Francoises  &  Flameng. 
Modern  Fortification 
Institut.  Astronomicarum 
De    Imperio    Solis    ac    Lunae    in    Corpora 

hum  an  a 
Directorium  medico-practicum 
Epistolarum  Lib.  XII. 
Angelographia 
Remarkable  Providences 
Cases  of  Conscience 


290     Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 


Mather,  Inc. 
Mather,  C. 
Mather,  C. 

Niem 
Neandri 
Neperi 
Nepair 


Oughtred 


Patavini 

Pleix 

Pavonll 

Petrarchae 

Petrarcha 

Porta 

Patricii 

Pelegromii 

Politiani 

Platti 

Porphyrii 

Plinii 

Plauti 

Pisonis 


Phocylidis 

Puteani 

Purbachii 

Purbachii 

Quinti  Curtii 

Quinti  Calabri 

Rutherfoord 

Robinson 

Romani 


[Many  more] 

Decennium  Luctuosum 

[Many  more] 

Historiarum  sui  Temporis 

Physice 

Rabdologia 

Description  of  the  Table  of  Logarithms 

Orationes  ex  historicis  Latinis  Excerptae  in 
Usum  Scholarum  Hollandiae 

Opuscula  Mathematica 

Pseaumes  mis  en  Rime  Francoise  par  Marot 
&  Beze 

Psalmi  Davidis  Hispanice 

Defensor  Pacis 

De  L'Ethique,  ou  Philosophic  Morale 

Summa  Ethicae 

de  remediis  utriusque  Fortunae 

nuovamente  ridotto  alia  vera  Lettione 

Magia  naturalis 

de  Regno  &  Regis  Institutione 

Synonymorum  Silva 

Epistolae 

Proverbs  Espagnols  traduit  en  Francois 

Manuale,  seu  Flores  Petrarchae 

Philosophi  Pythagorici  de  Abstinentia 

Secund.  Epistolarum  Lib.  9 

Comaediae 

de  Cognoscendis  &  Curandis  humani  Cor- 
poris morbis 

Pharmacopaeia  Londinens.  Colleg. 

Dissertatio  Astronomica 

Statera  Belli  &  Pacis 

Dispositiones  motuum  Caelestium. 

Theoriae  novae  Planetarum 

Historiarum  Libri 

Poetae  derelictorum  ab  Homero 

Letters 

Apology  for  the  Brownists 

Commentationes  Physicae  &  Metaphysicae 


Rami 

Rami 

Rami 

Richardson 

[W.  Alabaster] 

Record 

Raii 

Rulandi 


Raleigh 

Sallustii 

Stoughtonii 

Stafford 

Stafford 

Sulpicii  Severi 

Stradse 

Selden 

Speed 

Sleyden 

Scaligeri 

Scaligeri 

Scaligeri 

Schookii 

Sculteti 

Sluteri 

Snellii 

Scheibleri 

Senecae  et  aliorum 

Senecae 

Senecse 


Smetii 
Sennerti 
Sylvii 
Sutholt 


Appendix.  291 

Scholia  in  3  primas  liberales  Artes 

Schol.  in  Aristotelis  Libros  Acroamaticos 

Grammaticae  Lib.  4 

Logician's  School-master 

Roxana  Tragaedia  olim  Cantabrig.  acta,  &c. 

Arithmetick 

Catalogus  Plantarum  Angliae 

Medicinae  Practica 

Remarks  on  several  parts  of  Italy  in  1701, 

1702,  1703. 
History  of  the  World  abrig'd 
Opera  omnia 
Faelicitas  ultimi  seculi 
Niobe 

Female  Glory 
Opera  omnia 
de  bello  Belgico 
de  Dis  Syriis 

Abridged  Description  of  Britain  &  Ireland 
Key  of  History 

Exotericarum  Exercitationum  de  Subtilitate 
Poemata 
Epistolae  omnes 
Collegium  Physicum 
Ethicorum  Libri 
Anatomia  Logicae  Aristotelicae 
In  Physicam  Corn.  Valerii  Annotationes 
Metaphysicae 
Tragaediae 
Tragediae 

Epistolae  quae  extant 
Speculum    Anglicarum    atque    Politicarum 

Observationum 
Schollar's  Companion 
Prosodia 

Epitome  Institut.  Medicinae 
Methodus  Medicamenta  Componendi 
Dissertationes  quibus  explicatur  universum 

Jus  Institutionum 


292     Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 


Suetonius 

Lives  of  the  12  Caesars 

Shakespear 

Plays,  6  vols.  London,  1709 

Trenchfield 

Christian  Chymistry 

Taciti 

Opera 

Taciti 

Annales 

Turselline 

Epitome  Historiarum 

Timpleri 

Metaphysicae  Systema  Methodicum 

Tesmari 

Exercitationum  Rhetoricarum 

Trapezuntii 

Rhetoricarum 

A  Treatise  of  Metalica 

Trieu 

Manuductio  ad  Logicam 

Tullii 

De  Officio  Libri  Tres 

Turneri 

Orationes  &  Epistolae 

Terentii 

Comaedias  Sex 

Tacqueti 

Arithmeticae  Theoria  &  Praxis 

Tractatus    duo    Mathematici;    primus    de 

Globis,  a  Rob.  Hues 

Timpii 

Cynosura  Professorum  ac  Studiosorum  Elo- 

quentiae 

Temple,  Sir  Wm. 

Memoirs 

Temple,  Sir  Wm. 

Letters 

Varenii 

Descriptio  Regni  Japoniae  &  Siam 

Valerii  Max. 

De  dictis  et  factis  memorabilibus 

Velcurionis 

Comment,  in  Aristotel,  Physicam  Lib.  4 

Verronis 

Physicorum  Libri  10 

Valesii 

de  Sacra  Philosophia  Liber 

Vosii  et  aliorum 

De  Studiorum  Ratione  opuscula 

Valerii  Ultra] 

Grammatic.  Institut. 

Vails 

Elegantiae 

Wilkinson! 

Conciones  6  ad  Academicos  Oxonienses 

Walton 

Lives 

Wotton 

Remains 

Wendilini 

Contemplat.  Physicarum 

Wallis 

Grammatica  Lingua  Anglicanae 

Wither 

Abuses  stript  and  whipt 

Wither 

Shepard's  Hunting 

Wardi 

Astronomia  Geometrica 

Winshemii 

Quaestiones  Sphaerics 

Witteni 

Memoria  Jurisconsultorum  justa 

Witteni 

Witteni 

Witteni 

Zahn 

Zuichemi 


Appendix. 


293 


Memoria  medicorum  semper  vivens 
Memoria  Philosophorum  sempiterna 
Memoria  Theologorum 
Ichnographia  municipals 
J.  C.  Comment,  in  10  Titulos  Institutionum 
Juris  Civilis 


Grew 

Ortelius 
Milton 


Chamberlayne 

Langii 
Neal 

Parecbolae 
Strada 


Supplement 

Cosmologia  Sacra,  or  a   Discourse  of  the 

Universe 
Theatre  de  L'Universe 
Poetical  Works,  2  vols.  1720 
Cry  from  the  Desert  ....   things  lately 

come  to  pass  in  the  Cevennes 
Present  State  of  Gt.  Brittain,  1716 
Lives  of  the  French  Philosophers 
Medicina  Mentis 
History  of  New-England 
Universitatis  Oxoniensis 
Histoire  de  la  guerre  de  Flandre 


Selected  Titles  from  the  1725  Supplement  to 
the  Catalogue  of  the  Harvard  Library, 


Bayle 
Brandt 


Du  Pin 

Graevii 
Hooker 
How,  J. 
Highmori 


Folio 

Dictionaire  Historique  et  Critique 

History  of  the  Reformation  in  the  Low 
Countries  Englished  by  John  Chamber- 
layne 

New  Ecclesiastical  History 

Thesaurus  Antiquitatum  Romanarum 

Laws  of  Ecclesiastical  Polity 

Works 

Disquisitio  Corporis  Humani  Anatomica 


294     Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 


Light  foot 
Lock,  J. 
Montfaucon 

Ogilby 
Robinsoni 


Sallengre 

Tillotson 
Willughby 


Rami 
Speckhan 

Stierii 


Boemi 
Barlow 
Burnet,  T. 
Cheselden 
Clerici 

Cheyne 
Cheyne 


Echard 

Fuchsii 
Gordon 


Mather,  C. 
Pliny 


Works 

Works,  3  vol.  1722 

Antiquity  Explained  ....  in  Sculptures; 

Englished  by  David  Humphreys 
Translation  of  Virgil,  with  Cuts 
Annales  Mundi  Universales 
Papal  Usurpation   ....   with  History  of 

the  old  Waldenses 
Novus  Thesaurus  Antiquitatum  Romana- 

rum 
Works 
Ornithology  with  3  Discourses  of  Mr.  John 

Ray 

Quarto 

Opticae  Libri  quatuor 

Quaestionum  et  Decisionum  Juris  Caesarii, 

&c. 
Praecepta  Logicte,  Ethicas,  &c. 

Octavo,  etc. 

Enchiridion  Precum 

Exact  Survey  of  the  Tide 

Essay  upon  Government 

On  the  High  Operation  for  the  Stone,  1723 

Opera  Philosophica 

Cromwell's  Life,  1724 

Essay  of  the  Gout,  1723 

Essay  of  Health  &  Long  Life 

Critical  History  of  England,  Ecclesiastical 

and  Civil 
Ecclesiastical  History 
Institutiones  Medicinae 
Geographical  Grammar 
History  of  Virginia,  1722 
Miri-Weys,  the  Persian  Cromwell,  1724 
Life  of  Increase  Mather,  London,  1724 
Panegyrick    upon    the    Emperor    Trajan, 

Englished  by  Geo.  Smith 


Appendix. 


295 


Potter 
Strother 
Vareni 
VVendelini 
Whiston 
Watts,  I 
Watts,  I 
Watts,  I 
Watts,  I 
Watts,  I 
Watts,  I 


Greek  Antiquities 

On  Sickness  and  Health,  London,  1725 

Geographia  Generalis 

Institutiones  Politicae 

New  Theory  of  Earth,  1722 

Lyrick  Poems 

Versions  of  the  Psalms 

Art  of  Reading  &  Writing  English 

Songs  for  Children 

Hymns 

Logick 


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Appendix.  301 

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302      Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

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Appendix.  303 

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304     Literary  Culture  in  Early  New  England. 

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Early  American  Poetry   1 800-1 820  with  an  Appendix 

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Index. 


THE  following  Index  includes  names  of  individuals 
mentioned  in  the  main  text,  authors  of  books  listed  or 
referred  to,  titles  of  unidentified  books  and  of  period- 
icals published  before  lyzo.  The  Appendix  has  not  been  in- 
cluded. The  editor  is  indexing  the  entire  volume,  including 
the  Appendix,  and  will  deposit  the  complete  Index  with  Mr. 
Wright's  manuscript  in  the  Yale  University  Library. 

Rotations  and  book  lists  have  been  taken  without  change 
from  the  sources  quoted,  variations  or  errors  in  spelling  having 
been  retained.  The  Index,  however,  lists  the  name  of  each 
individual  under  one  spelling  only. 


Ind 


ex. 


Abbot,  George 149 

Academy  of  Compliments 122 

Adams,  Charles  Francis 143 

Adams,  Eliphalet 189 

Adams,  Matthew 213,  215 

Adams,  WilHam 188,  189 

Addington,  Isaac 201 

Aeschylus ion.,  129 

Aesop 30,  ^2y  I '8,  121 

Aetius 141 

Against  Actors  Showing  of  Stage  Plays 

Ainsworth,  Henry 30,  51 

Alabaster,  W 3i«. 

Albaspinus 130 

Albrecht,  Hans 72/2. 

Alcuin 175 

Aleyn,  Charles 129 

Alleine,  Joseph 189 

Allen,  James 69«. 

Allen,  John 78«. 

Allen,  Joseph 158 

Alstedius 30,  52,  59,  130 

Altomari,  Donat  ab 141 

Alwaerden 130 

Ambrose,  Isaac,  Everlasting  Gospel,  189 

Ambrose,  Joshua 22«. 

Ames,  Nathaniel 214 

Ames,  Dr.  William 22«.,  59,  189 

Ames,  Mrs.  William 3(>'^;  4on. 

Ames,  William,  Jr 22«. 

Anderton,  Lawrence 58 

Andrews,  Charles  M I54"- 

Andrews,  Henry 28 

Andrews,  Thomas  (Ipswich) 50 

Andrews,  Thomas  (London) 21,  64 

Andros,  Governor 

153.  155.  161,  166,  167 

Angier,  Samuel I36«. 

Anglesey,  Earl  of -jm. 

Annals  of  ^ueen  Anne 185 

Apollonius  Tyaneus 139 


ApoUonius,  W 17,  18 

Appleton,  Samuel 34 

Apsley,  Sir  Edward 76 

Aquinas,  Thomas 30 

Archimedes 32,  128 

Argalus  and Parthenia I2i,  122 

Aristophanes 129,  135 

Aristotle 20«.,  128,  187 

Arnaud,  Antony no 

Arnold,  Jonathan 172 

Arnold,  Samuel 1 8«. 

Arrowsmith,  John 176 

Ars  Cogitandi 118 

Art  of  Speaking 187 

Art  of  Thinking 1 87 

Arundel,  Earl  of 71W. 

Ascham,  Roger 30 

Ashmole,  Elias "jm. 

Ashurst,  Sir  Henry 134,  184 

Aspinwall,  William 40«. 

Athenian  Oracle 186,  187 

Atwood,  Ann 29 

Atwood,  John 28,  29 

Augustine   105,  133,  141,  I42,  150,  188 

Avery,  William 115 

Avery,  Mrs.  William 115 

Avicenna 141 

Bachiler,  Stephen 44 

Bacon,  Francis,  26,  31,  52,  71,  121,  128, 
129,  135.  138,  I38«.,  186,  187 

Bacon,  Roger 128 

Bailey,  John 69W. 

Bailey,  Samuel 9i'''»  162 

Baillie,  Robert 58 

Baily,  Thomas 6^n. 

Bains, 148 

Baker,  Sir  Richard 122 

Baker,  Samuel 112 

Baker,  William 48 

Bale,  John 58 

Bancroft,  Thomas 53 


io8 


Index. 


Banister,  John logw. 

Barbette,  Paul 125 

Barclay,  John 186 

Barnard,  John 1 80 

Barnes,  Joshua,  Discovery  of  Pigmies 

125 

Barnes,  R 58 

Barnet,  Thomas 69«. 

Barri,  Christopher,  Rarities  of  Cochin 

China 34 

Barriffe,  William 25 

Barrough,  Philip,  Method  of  Physic 

27,38 

Barrow,  Isaac ion. 

Bates,  William 119,  130,  188 

Baxter,  Richard,    86,    112,  134,   I34«., 

138,  138W.,  150,  154,  154W.,  184 

Bayly, 205,  2o6n.,  207W. 

Baynes,  Paul 39 

Beanghan, 5i«. 

Bede 130 

Bedwell,  William 34 

Belcher,  Governor lo^n. 

Bell, 130 

Bellarmine,  Cardinal 106 

Bellingham,  Sir  Richard 42 

Bentley,  Richard 184 

Berkeley,  Bishop 187 

Berkeley,  Governor 8o«. 

Bernard,  Richard 138,  i38«.,  139 

Berosus 60,  Son. 

Beza 58,  105 

Bible,  English,  118,  119,  175, 188;  Greek, 

188,  189;   Hebrew,  189;  Italian,  117; 

Z,<2//«,  188;  Spanish,  1 17;  figurine,  175 

Bigelow,  Francis  Hill 157"- 

Bishop,  John i8«. 

Blackleach,  John 54«. 

Blackmore,  Sir  Richard  147,  i47«.,  184, 

185,  190,  igon.,  194,  197,  I97«.,  198 

Blackstone,  William i6«.,  44«. 

Blake,  James 162 

Blount,  Thomas 123 

Bodin,  Jean 139,  I39«. 

Boehm,  Anthony  W 198 

Boetius 129 

Bohun,  Edmund,  Historical  Dictionary 
118,  119,  176 


Bolton,  Robert 50 

Bond,  Henry 48,  72 

Boone,  Nicholas 177"' 

Boreman,  Richard 130 

Boston  Gazette 177"-,  203,  2i2n.,  213 

Boston  News-Letter,  I'Jin.,  192, 193,  202, 

203,  2i2«.,  213,  213W. 

Boteler,  Lady  Alice  Apsley 76 

Boteler,  Lord  John 76 

Boulter,  Robert 120,  122 

Bownd,  Nicholas 130 

Boyle,  Robert    48,  71,  73,  74,  75,  no, 

III,  143,  i43«.,  179,  184 

Boylston,  Zabdiel 199 

Boyse,  John,  Life  of  Edmund  French  189 

Bracket,  John 79 

Bracton 175,  175W. 

Bradford,  Gov.  William 

15W.,  27,  29,  58,  59«.,  84,  84«. 

Bradford,  William  (printer) 80 

Bradstreet,  Anne 

44K.,  60,  6o«.,  63,  83,  85,  95«. 

Bradstreet,  Simon '.  .44,  76,  io6«, 

Brady,  Nicholas 92,  92W. 

Brahe,  Tycho 7i«->  128 

Brandt,  Gerard i  S'j 

Brathwait,  Richard 26 

Brattle, 181 

Brattle,  Captain 133 

Brattle,  Thomas 

104,  107,  108,  io8«.,  172,  i8i«. 
Brattle,  William,  102,  103,  104,  172,  199 

Breck,  Edward  (died  1662) 78,  78W. 

Breck,  Dr.  Edward 78«. 

Brereton,  Lord 47j  73 

Brewster,  Jonathan S^w.,  74 

Brewster,  Love 28 

Brewster,  William 15,  25,  28 

Brez,  Guy  de 4i«. 

Bridges, 131 

Brigden,  Zechariah 107 

Brigham,  C.  S I78«, 

Bright,  Francis i6w. 

Brinsmade,  William 49 

British  Apollo 187 

Britton,  Joannes 175,  I75n. 

Brock, 50 

Brodrick,  G.  C 20». 


Index. 


309 


Bromfield,  Edward 193 

Brooker,  William 203 

Broughton,  Richard 129 

Brounker,  Lord 7i«. 

Brown,  James 6^n. 

Browne,  Sir  Thomas 

7i«.,  142,  I42«.,  185 
Browning,  Joseph 

114,  114W.,  116,  wjn.y  ic,6n. 

Bryant,  John 27W. 

Buchanan,  George 39,  186 

Buckingham,  Thomas 195 

Buckstone, 190 

Bulkley,  Edward i8«.,  51,  89«. 

Bulkley,  Gershom 51 

Bulkley,  John 50,  99«. 

Bulkley,  Joseph 50 

Bulkley,  Peter 42,  50,  51,  78,  78«. 

Bull,  Jeremiah 136 

Bullinger,  Henry S^j  59 

Bullivant,  Benjamin 167 

Bumstead,  Jeremiah 92«. 

Bunyan,  John 123,  126,  i68«. 

Burgersdicius,  Francis 118,  1 89 

1  urgesse,  A i%n. 

Burnet,  Bishop 

112,  iiln.y  I47,  187,  188,  193 

Burrowes, 45«. 

Burton,  Henry 52,  58 

Burton,  Richard  or  Robert, 

See  Nathaniel  Crouch 
Burton,  Robert 

53>  i39>  140,  141,  142,  i47«->  160 

Burton,  William 128 

Busby,  Abraham 38 

Busby,  John 38 

Busby,  Nicholas 38 

Butler,  Samuel,  Hudibras 

147,  i47«.,  i6on.,  186,  187 

Buttoiph,  Nicholas 116 

Buxtorf,  John 131,  189 

Byles,  Mather 195,  213 

Caesar 25,  129 

Calamy,  Edmund.  .150,  i^on.,  176,  197 

Calef,  Robert 139,  I39«.,  162 

Call  to  Backsliders 188 

Calvin 25,  27,  58,  59,  150,  175 


Cambridge  Concordance 1 19,  175 

Camden,  Jo jm, 

Camden,  William 

26,31,38,39,  52,60,  121,  147W. 

Camel, 131 

Campbell,  Duncan 114,  115,  127 

Campbell,  John 203,  207«.,  213 

Capen,  Joseph 162,  163W. 

Carion,  J 60 

Carpenter,  I.,  Merchants'  Accounts ...  38 

Carter, 131 

Carter,  Captain  Thomas 117 

Carter,  Thomas  (of  Woburn) i8«, 

Cartwright,  Thomas 50 

Cary,  Robert 125 

Caryll,  Joseph 126,  131 

Casaubon,  Meric ion. 

Cassini,  G.  D 72 

Catechisms 174,  188,  189 

Caukin, 55 

Cave,  William 124 

Cawdrey,  Robert 26 

Centlivre,  Susannah 93 

Cervantes I48 

Chamberlayne,  Edward,  State  of  Eng- 
land  122,  131 

Chaplin,  Jeremiah 

i8«.,  3o«.,  35«.,  40«.,  4i«.,  77«. 

Chapman,  George 31W. 

Charas,  Moses no 

Charles  1 77 

Charles  II 21,  70W.,  -jm.,  -jc,,  75W. 

Charles,  Character  of  King 53 

Charleton,  Walter 118 

Charnock,  Stephen 188 

Chaucer,  Geoffrey 

146,  I46«.,  147,  I47«.,  185 
Chauncy,  Charles 

15.  17.  18,  19,77.99.  127 

Chauncy,  Mrs.  Charles 77 

Chauncy,  Ichabod 22«. 

Chauncy,  Isaac 22«. 

Chemica,  Collectanea 178 

Chemicum,  Theatrum 1 28 

Child, 52 

Child,  Robert 17,  4l«-,  43.  45 

Child,  Tom 205 

Chiswell,  Richard 124,  125W.,  133 


3IO 


Index. 


Chittenden,  Park 29 

Choyse,  Dr 5  <; 

Chrysostom io6«. 

Church,  History  of  the 27 

Cicero 31,  38,  118,  131,  188 

Clap,  Roger i\on. 

Clap,  Thomas 184W.,  187W. 

Clarendon,  Earl  of,  68«.,  70«.,  71M.,  185 

Clark,  William 117 

Clarke,  John  (of  Hull) 189 

Clarke,  John  (of  Newport) 70,  70W. 

Clarke,  S;:muel 131 

Cleveland,  John 186 

Clough,  Samuel 133 

Coddington,  William 56«.,  I36«. 

Cogan,  Thomas 38 

Coggan,  Caleb 5 1  w. 

Coggan,  John ^m. 

Coke,  Sir  Edward.  .  123,  139,  i6ow.,  175 

Colden,  Cadwallader 200 

Cole,  Elisha 188 

Coleman,  Ann 49 

Collier,  Jeremy 174,  174".,  186 

Collins,  John 66 

Collins,  Nathaniel 161 

Colman,  Benjamin, 92«.,  102, 104,  I04«., 

148,  154,  174,  181,  182,  i83«.,   189, 

197,  i97«.,  207«.,  2o8«. 

Colson,  Nathanson 119 

Comenius,  i9«.,  7i«.;  Janua  Linguarum, 

38 

Common  Prayer 118 

Confessio  Fidei 188 

Confession  of  Faith 59,  174 

Cook,  Elizabeth  C. 

187K.,  195,  i95«.,  203«. 

Cook,  George 65 

Cooke,  Elisha 133 

Cooper, 51 

Cordier,  Mathurin 118,188 

Cornwallis,  Sir  William 26,  29 

Coryat,  Thomas 165 

Cotterell,  Sir  Charles 93 

Cotton,  John,  17,  18,  23,  35,  49,  58,  62, 

68,83, 109, 112, 135,  i35«.,  i63«.,209«. 

Cotton,  John,  Jr 50 

Cotton,  Seaborne 50 

Cowes,  James 116 


Cowley,  Abraham 147,  185,  187 

Crakanthorpe,  Richard 128 

Crenius,  See  Crusius 

Crisp,  Richard 1 56«. 

Crompton,  Richard 175,  175W. 

Cromwell,  Henry 65 

Cromwell,  Jane 64 

Cromwell,  Oliver,  18,  21,  63,  64,  65,  66, 

67,  68,  68«.,  7i«. 

Crossel, 128 

Crouch,  Nathaniel,  138,   138W.;   'Two 

Journeys  to  Jerusalem,  123 

Crown  Garland 121 

Crowne,  John 75 

Crowne,  William 75 

Crusius  (Crenius),  Thomas,   177,    I77«. 

Cudworth,  James 77 

Curtius,  Quintus 60,  6ow. 

Cutler,  A.  E 52W. 

Cutts,  Lord 197 

Dalton,  Michael 123 

Danckaerts,  Jasper 

loi,  102,  I02W.,  156,  i56«.,  157,  i57«. 

Danforth,  John lo-jn.,  209 

Danforth,  Judge 213 

Danforth,  Samuel  (1626-1674) 

4072.,  57,  90,  107 

Daniel,  Sir  Richard 42 

Davenport,  John 

18,  46,  47,  52,  55«.,  56«.,  73,  74 

Davie,  Sir  John 1 84 

Davison,  William 15 

Daye,  Matthew 40W. 

Daye,  Stephen 23 

Dean,  Francis l8«. 

Deane,  Samuel 77 

Deans,  Steven 28 

Defoe,  Daniel loow.,  198 

Dekker,  T 26,  26w. 

Delamer,  H 179 

Dell,  William 35 

Deloney,  Thomas,  Garland  of  Delight, 

121;  Gentle  Craft,  123 

DeMontmorency,  J.  E.  G 23W. 

Demosthenes 53,  129 

Desborough,  John 64 


Index. 


311 


Desborough,  Mrs.  John 64 

Desborough,  Samuel 64 

Descartes,  Ren6 128 

Devill,  [?  Davell] 2o8w, 

Dexter,  Franklin  B.,   I5«.,  i6w.,  lyw., 

29M.,  ySw.,  153W.,  172W.,  i86m. 

Dexter,  Henry  Martyn 15W. 

Digby,  Sir  Kenelm,  41,  4i«.,  42,  42^., 

66,  67,  71,  I34«.,  142,  179 

Diodati,  Giovanni 117 

Dionysius 2^ 

Dobson,  Austin 194 

Doddridge,  Sir  John,  Office  of  Executors, 

Dorney,  Life  of  Henry 112 

Douglass,  William 172,  200 

Downing,  Emanuel 44«. 

Downing,  George 21,  99«. 

Downing,  James 32 

Drake,  Samuel  Gardner I78«. 

Draxe,  Thomas,  Calliopceia 31 

Drury,  [?  John  Durie] 47 

Dryden,  John 77,  84«.,  146,  150 

DuBartas,  G 60 

Dudley,  Joseph 126,  154,  197 

Dudley,  Paul.  .  .102,  108,  172,  193,  199 

Dudley,  Gov.  Thomas 39,  76 

Dugard,  William 189 

Dugdale,  William 128,  149 

Dummer,  Jeremiah 

104,  184,  187,  I97«.,  200 
Duniway,  Clyde  A. . . .  49«.,  6gn.,  iS'jn. 

Duns  Scotus 31 

Dunster,  Henry,  16, 18,  19,35,40,43,46 

Dunster,  Henry,  (father  of  above) 35 

Dunster,  John 22«. 

Dunster,  Thomas 35 

Dunton,  John,  63,  114,  116,  119,  124, 
126,  135,  156,  157,  195;  Letters,  G^n., 
ii5«.,  ii9«.,  120,  120K.,  i27«.,  i35«.; 
Life  and  Errors,  ii^n.,  i^S"- 

Duport,  James 20«. 

Durie,  John 47 

Dutch  /Annotations 175 

Dutch  Physic 38 

Dutch  fVork,  A 38 

Dutton,  William 68«. 

Dyke,  Daniel 51 


Dyke,  Jeremiah 32 

Eaton,  Nathaniel 16,  19,  I9«. 

Eaton,  Samuel 36,  36«. 

Eaton,  Theophilus 77 

Edwards,  176,  193 

Edwards,  David 133 

Effect  of  War 130 

Eggleston,  Edward ioo«.,  io8«. 

Elegant  Phrases 31 

Elias  Levita 131 

Eliot,  Benjamin 116,  i77«. 

Eliot,  John.  .  .  .36,  46,  48,  49,  78«.,  113 

Elizabeth,  Queen 15,  20«. 

Elizabeth,  History  of  ^ueen 25 

Ellis,  John  Harvard,  44W.,  60,  6ow.,  77«. 

Endicott,  Gov.  John 57>  79 

England,  Chronicle  of 25 

English  Dictionary,  An 189 

English  Exercises 188 

English  Grammar,  An 34 

Ephemerides  Medico-physicae .  .  1 40,   1 43 

Epictetus 31 

Epicurus 54 

Epps, 1 1 2 

Erasmus 

3i>  36,  37>  122,  130,  148,  I48«. 

Espagnet,  Joh 72«. 

Essays  Moral  and  1'heological 31 

Euripides 129 

Eusebius 5^ 

Euwichius 140 

Evans,  Charles 82«.,  i6i«. 

Evelyn,  John 129 

Everard,  Dr 72W.,  128 

Everett,  William 105 

Evevautius 128 

Evonymus 3^ 

Ewer  MSS 75«. 

Eyre,  Mrs.  Katharine 201 «. 

Fabre,  P.  J 46 

Fairfax,  Sir  Thomas 65 

Falkland,  Lord 68 

Farnaby,  Thos.,  Phraseologia  Anglo- 

latina 188 

Faust  us.  History  of  Dr..  .  .  121,  122,  123 


312 


Index. 


Feltham,  Owen .  .31,  121,  122,  135,  186 

Fenner,  William 131 

Fenwick,  George 76 

Fetherston,  23 

Filmer,  Edward,  Defence  of  Dramatic 

Poetry 186 

Finch,  Sir  Henry 138,  isSn. 

Firmin,  Giles 16,  62«.,  131 

Fitch,  James i8w. 

Flavel,  John 119,  188,  189 

Fleet,  T 214 

Fleming,  Robert 1 89 

F/eta 175 

Fletcher,  G 179 

Fletcher,  Henry,  Perfect  Politician,  121 

Flint,  Henry 183 

Flint,  Josiah 91 

Flint,  Thomas 78,  78«. 

Flint,  Mrs.  Thomas 78«. 

Florilegium  Pbraseun 188 

Florus,  Lucius  Annaeus 188 

Fludd,  Robert 22^  34' 

Folger,  Peter 1 59 

Ford,  Emanuel,  History  of  Parismus 

120,  122 
Ford,    Worthington    C,     53«.,     92^., 

I09«.,  120W.,  I22«.,  123,  I23«.,  i68«. 

Forestus 141 

Fortescue,  General 65 

Fortunatus 121 

Foster,  Edward 28,  28w.,  77 

Foster,  John,  108,  115,  116,  162,  iS^n., 

201 M. 

Fox,  George 136,  i36«. 

Fox,  John 36,  38,  58,  128 

Franckius,  Dr 198 

Franklin,  Benjamin.  .  .  .  i63«.,  214,  215 

Franklin,  James 187,  195,  203,  215 

Franklin,  Richard 131 

Frantzius 131 

Freck,  John 42 

Freck,  Ralph 42 

Frederick,  Princeps 72«. 

Freherus,  M I34«' 

Freherus,  Paulus 175 

French  books 39 

Fruit  Trees,  Treatise  of 54 


Fulke,  William 58 

Fuller,  Samuel 29 

Fuller,  Thomas,  17^.,  i8«.,  52,  93, 142W., 
147,  i47«.,  149,  i49«.,  160 

Gaine,  John i68«. 

Galatinus,  Petrus 34 

Gale,  Theophilus 134,  I34«. 

Galileo,  Gal 72W. 

Garden  of  Health 38 

Gardiner,  Lion 37 

Gassendi,  Pierre 135,  185 

Ganger,  Guide  to  the  Practical 185 

Gaule,  John 139,  I39«. 

Gay,  Hezekiah 45«. 

Gay,  Mrs.  John  (mother  of  Hezekiah) 

45W. 

Gay,  John 1 87 

Gee,  Joshua 182 

Gellius,  Aulus 131 

George, 210 

Gerard,  John 38«. 

German  Epbemerides 140,  143 

Gerrish,  Samuel i77«->  182,  183 

Gerrish,  Mrs.  Samuel 207n. 

Gibbs,  Henry 158 

Gibbs,  Margaret 158 

Gibbs,  Robert 79 

Gibson,  William 28 

Gilbert,  John 29 

Gilbert,  Thomas 6^n. 

Gilby,  Anthony 93 

Gillespie,  G 58 

Gilson,  William 77 

Glanvil,  Joseph,  lo-jn.,  118,  I42, 160,186 

Glauber,  John  R 46,  47,  72/7.,  185 

Glendall, 38 

Glisson,  William 123 

Glover,  John 22w. 

Glover,  Jose 40«. 

Glover,  Mrs.  Jose 40». 

Goad,  Dr 32 

Goclenius 131 

Goddard,  Dr 72"-,  73 

GofFe,  William 66 

Golden  Remains 53 

Goodwin,  Thomas 131 

Gookin,  Daniel 63W.,  66,  137 


Index. 


313 


Gookin,  Frederick  William. .  .6^n.,66n. 

Gookin,  Nathaniel 181 

Gordon,  Patrick 189 

Gorton,  Samuel S^n. 

Gothar,  Princeps 72W. 

Gott,  Charles 55n. 

Gouge,  William 27 

Graves,  Thomas 42 

Gray,  James 192,  193 

Greek  Grammar 188 

Green,  Bartholomew 94«. 

Green,  Bartholomew,  Jr 80 

Green,  Samuel  (printer) i68w. 

Green,  Samuel  Abbott 

4IW.,  i63«.,  i99«.,  2oi«. 

Greene,  Robert 54 

Greenough,  C.  N \2on. 

Gregory,  David 185 

Gretser,  James,  'RavCKiKov  bCopov  ....  31 
Grew,  Nehemiah,  72«.,  174;  Museum 
Regalis  Societatis,  185 

Griffin,  John 116 

Grindal,  Archbishop 77 

Grocer,  Thomas 53 

Grosthead,  R 58 

Grotius,  Hugo 53,  189 

Gruling,  Philip 34 

Gualter,  Rodolph 59 

Guardian 1 87,  194 

Guicciardini 27,  59 

Gurdon, 32 

Guy  of  JVarwick 121 

Gyles,  Sir  Richard i83«. 

Haak,  Theodore 70 

Haiward,  John,  Strong  Helper 189 

Hakluyt,  Richard,  26, 122,  135,  178, 182 

Hale,  John 138 

Hale,  Sir  Matthew. . .  124,  125,  130,  186 

Hall,  Joseph 35,  131 

Halle,  Edward,   Union  of  York  and 

Lancaster 1 28 

Halley,  Edmund io8«.,  1 84,  1 85 

Hampden,  John 68 

Harcourt,  Robert,  Voyage  to  Guiana . .  54 

Harlakenden,  Roger 40 

Harris,  Benjamin,  108,  115,  116,  i68«. 
Harris,  John 175 


Harrison,  Major-General 64 

Hartlib,  Samuel 47,  56,  70,  73,  74 

Harvard,  John 

16,  18,  26w.,  30,  36^.,  40,  78 

Haselrig,  Sir  Arthur 68 

Hatch,  William 28 

Hatherly,  Timothy 77 

Hatton, 178 

Haynes,  Gov.  John 22«.,  65,  89 

Haynes,  Mrs.  John 65 

Haynes,  John,  Jr 65 

Hayward,  J 179 

Hazell,  John 28,  29 

Head,  Richard,  English  Rogue 120 

Health,  Rules  of 125 

Heath,  Sir  Robert 175 

Hebrew  Grammar 1 89 

Heereboord,  Adrianus 118 

Helmont 46,  72«.,  128,  185,  222 

Help  to  Discourse 132 

Helvetius,  J.  F 72«. 

Henchman,  Daniel 179 

Henchman,  Richard 

168,  205,  205«.,  2o6«.,  207,  208 

Henry,  Matthew 175 

Her  and  His  {Haec  et  Hie) 123 

Herbert,  Edward 72W. 

Herbert,  George,  ion.,  52,  52«.,  57,  131, 

137,  148,  176,  182 

Herbert,  Thomas 185 

Herodotus 135 

Herring,  Francis 26 

Hesiod 129 

Hetherley, 23 

Heurnius,  J 141,  142 

Hevelius,  Joh 72,  72W. 

Heydon,  Sir  John 72«. 

Heylyn,  Peter,  31,  36,  185;  Journey 

of  France,  53 

Heywood,  Thomas 54 

Hibbens,  William 63^. 

Hicks,  William,  Oxford  Jests 122 

IJigginson,  Rev.  Francis i6«.,  65 

Higginson,  Francis  (son  of  Francis) 

65,153 
Higginson,  Francis  (son  of  John). .  .153 

Higginson,  Rev.  John i8«.,  153,  155 

Higginson,  Nathaniel 153 


SH 


Index. 


Higginson,  Thomas 153 

Hildersham,  Arthur 50 

Hildesheim,  F 142 

Hinckley,  Samuel 77 

Hinckley,  Gov.  Thomas I36«. 

Hippocrates I40 

History  of  Sham  Plots I40 

History  of  the  World 25 

Hoadley,  John 64 

Hoar,  John 77 

Hoar,  Leonard.  .  .22w.,  77,  99,  loi,  149 

Hoar,  Mrs.  Leonard 77,  99^.,  149 

Hobart,  Sir  Henry 123 

Hobart,  Nehemiah 

191,  205,  2o6«.,  207«. 

Hobby,  Sir  Charles 207W. 

Holder,  William 1 10,  174 

Holinshed,  Raphael,  Chronicles,  25,  128 
Hollis,  Thomas.  .  .171,  I7i«.,  181,  182, 
183,  18377.,  186,  187 

Holyoke,  Edward 5i«.,  181 

Holyoke, (son  of  Edward)  . .  .51W, 

Homer 25,  31,  129,  189 

Hooke,  Robert 

7i«.,  108,  125,  143,  i43«.,  179 

Hooke,  William 15,  66 

Hooke,  Mrs.  William 66 

Hooker,  Thomas 17,  18,  45,  49,  57, 

857;.,  89,  8977.,  209«. 

Hopestill,  Elder 2ion. 

Hopkins,  Edward 66,  66n. 

Horace 53,  129,  188 

Hord, 46,  46«. 

Horn,  Andrew I75"- 

Horn-books 119 

Hornby,  William 26 

Home, 125 

Horneck,  Anthony 125 

Hornius,  Georgius 150 

Horstius 140 

Hotchkis,  Thomas 125 

Hough,  Samuel i8«. 

How,  Job 115,  116 

How,  John 115 

Howard,  Charles 71W.,  73 

Howell,  James,  129,  147,  i47«.;  Ger- 
man Dyet,  54 
Howell,  William 178 


Howes,  Edmund 52 

Howes,  Edward 32,  32W,,  23 

Howgill,  Francis 136 

Hubbard,  William 131 

Hugenius,  Christian 185 

Hull,  John 65«.,  66«.,  157 

Humfrey,  John 32,  76 

Humfrey,  Lady  Susan 76 

Hunford,  Thomas i8«. 

Hutchinson,  Anne 77,  90 

Imposts  and  Customs 38 

Informer  s  Doom 1 23 

Interest  of  States  and  Kingdoms 38 

Isaacson,  Henry 129 

Isagoge  Pbisico  Magico,  &c 34 

Isocrates 31 

Izacke,  Richard 129 

Jacie,  Henry,  See  Jessey 

Jacob,  H 59 

James  IL.... 153,  154 

James,  Captain 23 

James,  Thomas i8n. 

Jameson,  J.  Franklin 22w.,  y6n. 

Jenner,  Thomas 37 

Jenney,  John 28 

Jerome,  St 39,  131 

Jessey,  Henry 3'^y  35^  46,  46". 

Jests,  Book  of 53 

Jewell,  J 59 

Johnson, 131 

Johnson,  Lady  Arbella 76 

Johnson,  Edward,  22n.,  62y  76,  84,  95W. 

Johnson,  Isaac 32,  76 

Johnson,  John 4477.,  45,  57,  5777. 

Johnson,  Marmaduke,  4177.,  94,  9477., 

108,  115 

Johnson,  R 26 

John.son,  Samuel 172 

Johnson,  William  (father  of  Edward)   76 

Johnston, I4277. 

Jollie,  T Ill 

Jones,  Inigo 128 

Jonson,  Ben 186,  193 

Jordan,  Thomas,  Royal  Arbor,  121; 

Cabinet  of  Mirth,  132 
Josephus 29,  53,  103,  139 


Index. 


315 


Josselyn,  John 

62,  62«.,  79,  79W.,  Sow.,  83 

Jovial  Garland 121 

Julian,  Emperor 139 

Junius,  A4rianus,  Nomenclator 189 

Junius,  Francis 175 

Jure  Maritimo 1 23 

Justin,  Martyr 139 

Juvenal 31,  53 

Keayne,  Robert 43,  180 

Keble,  Joseph,   138;  Statutes  at  Large^ 

38>  123,  174 

Keckerman,  Bartholomew 26,  135 

Keffler  [?  Keppler] 73 

Keith,  James dfjti. 

Kempis,  Thomas  a 94,  94W. 

Kennett,  Bishop,  184,  189,  197,  I97«.; 

History  of  England,  185 

Keppler,  Joh 71  w. 

Kettell,  Samuel 2io«, 

Kick,  Abraham 1 1 1 

Kimball,  Everett 1 54W. 

King,  Edward 86m, 

King  and  Lord  Chancellor's  Speeches,  1 25 

Kirby,  F 2:i 

Kneeland,  Samuel 195,  203 

Kneller,  Sir  Godfrey 154 

Knight,  Sarah  Kemble,  195W.,  208,  2o8«. 
Knowles,  John 134 

Laet,  Jean  de 52,  179 

Lake,  Thomas 57n. 

Lambard,  William 130 

Lane,  William  C 214,  2i4«, 

Langhorn,  Daniel 129 

Langland,  Piers  Plowman 39,  39W. 

Languet,  H 60 

Las  Casas,  Bart,  de 117 

Latin  Grammar 188 

Latin  Prelections  and  Determinations  112 

Laud,  Archbishop 29 

Law,  'Terms  of  the 123 

Laws,  Book  of 39 

Lawson,  Deodat 107,  161 

Leader,  Richard 55«. 

Lechford,  Thomas 54«. 

Lechmere,  Edmund 201 


Lechmere,  Sir  Nicholas 201 

Lechmere,  Nicholas  (grandson  of  above) 

201 

Lechmere,  Thomas 190,  190W.,  201 

Lee,  Samuel 6<)n.,  127,  152 

Leet,  Gov.  William 77,  78«. 

LeGrand,  Antonius 118 

Leigh, 131 

L'Estrange,  Hammond 55 

L'Estrange,  Sir  Roger 122 

Leusden,  John 113 

Leverett,  John.  . . .  102,  104,  134,  lion. 

Leybourn,  William 125 

Lightfoot,  John 31,  134,  175 

Lincoln,  Earl  of 76,  77 

Lisle,  Lady 99'^-)  149 

Lisle,  Lord 77»  99 

Littlefield,  G.  E.,  i<)n.,  iin.,  22" •>  4on., 

79«.,  lojn.,  109,  109W.,  ii5«.,  ij6n., 

211W. 

Livy... 39 

Lob,  Richard 100 

Locke,  John 109,  185,  189 

Lodge,  Thomas 26 

Logic  and  Rhetoric 38 

London  Bully 123 

London  Gazette 1 50 

Lord,  Joseph 207«. 

Lord,  Robert 49 

Lothrop,  John 29,  50 

Love,  Christopher 88,  88«. 

Love,  John 175 

Lovell,  Dr 7i«, 

Lover,  The 187 

Lucan 3i»  53.  129 

Lucian 128 

Lucretius ion. 

Lyly,  John,  Euphues 53 

Lynde,  Benjamin    108,  154,  207«. 

Lyon,  Captain 207«. 

Lyon,  Richard 22«. 

Maccovius,  Johannes 17 

Machiavelli 26,  179 

Macrobius 129 

Magdeburg,  Centuries  of 58 

Mai  thus,  Thomas 23 


3i6 


Index. 


Malynes,  Gerard  de,  Circle  of  Com- 
merce  38 

Manchester,  Earl  of 'jm. 

Mandeville,  Sir  John 121 

Manton,  Thomas I48 

Mantuanus,  Baptista 39,  59 

Marana,  G.  P.,  Turkish  Spy ...  186,  187 
Markham,  Gervase,  122,  130;  Country 
Farmer,  25 

Marolles,  L.  de 193 

Martial 129 

Martin 59 

Martyr,  Peter 59>  60 

Marvell,  Andrew 68,  68«.,  85,  86 

Mary,  ^ueen  of  Scotland,  History  of,  1 29 

Mason,  John 65,  84 

Masson,  David 86«. 

Mather,  Cotton,  22,  36, 4IW.,  67,  68, 69, 
102,  104,  105,  106,  io6«.,  107,  108, 
ioSk.,  113,  126,  127,  i35«.,  139,  140, 
143-148,  150,  i^on.,  159,  160,  i6o«., 

161,  162,  165,  166,  i66«.,  171,  172, 
177,  17777.,  178,  I78«.,  190,  191,  192, 
194.  197.  198,  199.  i99«->  200,  202, 
209/2.,  210,  212;  Corderius  Americaniis, 
\'1']n.\  Diary,  g4n.,  io6n.,  1 13^.,  1 14«., 
i26«.,  127?;.,  i65«.,  i66«.,  i77«., 
lySn.,  igin.,  192W.,  198W.;  Magnolia, 
\']n.,  i8«.,  I9«.,  2i«.,  iin.,  36^., 
4472.,  45«.,  57«.,  62«.,  63^.,  66«.,  68«., 
69W.,  76«.,  77«.,  84,  86,  9977.,  IOI77., 
I027Z.,  10572.,  10772.,  14472.,  14577., 
14672.,  14772,,  14872.,  15577.,  15872.,  160, 

162,  16572.,  20972. 

Mather,  Increase,  21,  4477.,  52,  5272.,  64, 
99,  100,  102,  104,  III,  112,  113, 
1 1377.,   1 1777.,   124,   12577.,   126,   130, 

i35>   137.   140,   141,  142,   153.   ^Si^ 

15677.,  158,  160,  161,  162,  171,  20977.; 

Prevalency  of  Prayer,  14277. 

Mather,  Katharine 107 

Mather,  Nathaniel,  22,  100,  103,  105, 

107,  108,  158 

Mather,  Richard 45>  57>  57"->  59 

Mather,  Samuel.  .21,64, 102, 133,20777. 
Mather,  Warham 113,  153 


Mather  Papers,  5977.,  8572.,  10077.,  10377., 
1 1 177.,  1 1277.,  1 1377.,  12577.,  12677., 
13877.,  15377.,  15877.,  19177. 

Matthews,  Albert i9«'>  19477. 

Maud,  Daniel 50 

Maule,  Thomas i47"'>  167 

May,  Thomas 131 

Mayer,  John 37 

Mayhew,  Experience,  205,  20677.,  20777. 

Mayhew,  Thomas 45 

Mayhew,  Thomas,  Jr 45 

Maynard,  Sir  John 134 

Mead,  Matthew 60,  I48 

Mediterranean,  Sea  Chart  of  the 185 

Mercury 139 

Merlin,  Life  of 129 

Merret,  Dr 73 

Mildmay,  Sir  Henry 2277. 

Mildmay,  Henry,  Jr 2277. 

Mildmay,  William 2277. 

Miles,  Rev.  John 29,  47 

Milton,  John,  16,  1677.,  2077.,  52,  64,  68, 
69,  70,  707J.,  7177.,  84,  85,  8677.,  93, 
94,  117,  121,  122,  123,  143-146,  159. 
179,  181,  182,  18277.,  186,  187,  194, 
195,  211 

Miscellanea  Curiosa 185 

Mitchel,  Jonathan 45 

Mizaldus,  Antonius 142 

Monck,  General 64,  66 

Montaigne ^^ 

Moodey,  Joshua 20772. 

Moore,  John  (Bishop  of  Norwich) 

117,  118 

Moray,  Sir  Robert 7177. 

Morden,  Robert 119 

More,  Henry 10777.,  160 

More,  Thomas 2^,  111 

Morell,  William 1677. 

Morian, 47 

Mornay,  Philip 59 

Mortimer,  Cromwell 7i>  74 

Morton,  Charles.  .6977.,  100,  10077.,  152 
Morton,  Nathaniel 

29,    52,   60,    86,    130,    131,    137 

Morwing,  Peter 93 

Moryson,  Fynes 93,  129 

Moxon,  Joseph 131 


Index. 


317 


Muggleton,  Lodowick 48 

Mullinger,  James  B. .  .  .ion.,  103,  103W. 

Musculus 60 

Musgrave,  Philip 203 

Myles,  Samuel 104 

Napier,  Lord 71W. 

Navy  0/  Great  Britain,  History  of .  .  .129 
Neal,  Daniel 

22n.,  36/7.,  I35«.,  182,  197,  197W. 
Nedham,  M.,  Christianissimus  Cbris- 

tianandus in 

Nelson,  John 132 

Netherlands,  History  of  the 27,  39 

New  England  Courant,   187,   194,   195, 

203,  212,  2I2«.,  213,  215 

New  England  Weekly  Journal. .  195,  213 

Newman,  Henry 183,  183^.,  200 

Newton,  Sir  Isaac,  7i«.,  75, 128,  184,185 

Newton,  Roger i8«. 

Niccols,  Richard 31 

Nicholet,  Charles S^n. 

Nicholson,  Francis 184 

Norden,  John 27 

Norfolk,  Duke  of 71W.,  73 

North,  Sir  Thomas 31,  36 

Northampton,  State  of 125 

Norton,  John,  15,  16,  17,  4l«.,  43,  51, 

56,  57,  63«.,  69,75,79,  88,  89 
Norton,  Robert,  '^1;  Gunners  Dialogue 

34 

Norton,  Samuel 34 

Norwood,  Richard 1 19,  130 

Nowell,  Alexander 107 

Noyes,  Nicholas 205,  205«.,  2o6«. 

Nugce  Venules 122 

Nye,  Philip 1 1 1 

Oakes,  Urian 

4i«.,  99,  loi,  loiw.,  161,  163 
Observations  of  the  Imperial  Academy 

140,  i43«. 
Observations  on  State  of  Turkey  ....189 
Ockland,  Christopher,  Anglorum  Prcelia 

30 
Oldenburg,  Henry,  47, 70, 72, 73, 74, 1 10 

Oldham,  John 188 

Oliver,  John 49 


Orange,  Apology  of  the  Prince  of 39 

Orange,  History  of  the  House  of 189 

Orinda,  See  Philips,  Mrs.  Katharine 

Osborn,  F 179 

Otho,  Historia  Doctorum  Misnicorum 

132 

Otis,  William  Bradley 205W. 

Overton,  Rebecca 176 

Ovid,  36,  36«.,  53,  118,  139,  140,  141, 

1 42,   176,   188,  202W.,  2o6«. 

Owen,  Dr.  John 

51,111,112,126,131,175 

Oxenbridge,  John 68,  68«.,  69^. 

Oxenbridge,  Mrs.  John 68«. 

Paget, 131 

Palfrey,  John  Gorham 

22W.,  49«.,  5i«.,  52/7.,  63,  64«. 

Pallavicino,  Council  of  Trent 50 

Palmer,  John 56 

Palmer,  William 28«. 

Paracelsus 127 

Pareus,  David 59,  60,  131,  150,  175 

Parker,  Thomas 17 

Parkhurst,  Thomas 209«. 

Parks,  William 57,  57«. 

Parliament,  Appeal  to 38 

Partridge,  Ralph  (died  1658) 90 

Partridge,  Ralph  (of  Duxbury) 51 

Pasor,  George 188 

Pattoun, 202 

Paullin 45 

Paulus 141 

Pausanias I4I 

Peacham,  Henry,  Garden  of  Eloquence  31 

Pearson,  John 175 

Pechey,  John,  London  Dispensatory,  130 

Pecke,  John 1 1 1 

Pelham,  Herbert 37,  44«. 

Pell,  Dr 7i«. 

Pemberton,  Eben 207^. 

Pemberton,  Henry 185 

Pembroke,  Earl  of 71W. 

Pembroke,  Elkanah 117 

Penhallow,  Samuel 100,  189 

Peregrinus,  Pet 7i«. 

Perkins,  William 37,  39,  139,  139". 

Perry,  Michael 92«.,  116 


3i8 


Index. 


Persius 31,  53,  129 

Peter,  Hugh 

18,  4i«.,  46,  55«.,  63,  63«.,  64,  67 

Peterson,  Alb 7IW. 

Petto,  Samuel in 

Petty,  Sir  William 174 

Petyt,  William 129 

Pharamond 1 20 

Philipot,  John 128 

Philips,  Mrs.  Katharine 85 

Phillips,  George 49 

Phillips,  Henry 115 

Phillips,  Samuel 1 14,  115,  116 

Phillips,  William 29 

Philomela,  See  Elizabeth  Singer  Rowe 

Philosophical  Conferences 143 

Philosophical  Transactions,  48,  71,  73, 
74,  108,  no,  143,  172,  199,  I99n.,  200 

Phipps,  Lady 208 

Phipps,  Sir  William 208 

Phips, 207«. 

Phoenix 60 

Physic  and  Surgery,  Dialogue  of 38 

Physician,  Family 125 

Pierson,  Abraham 16 

Pigott,  Edward,  Coma  Berenices 132 

Pilbeame,  James 29 

Pindar ion.,  129 

Piscator,  John 51 

Pistorius,  Johann I34"- 

Plato 128 

Plautus 31,  53,  179 

Pliny 38,  60,  14I 

Plutarch 31,  36,  60,  129,  135 

Poeta  Minores 53 

Poetarum  Flores 31 

Poetical  History 1 22 

Pole,  Elizabeth 29 

Pond,  Edward 90 

Poole,  Matthew,  48,  118,  n9;    Annota- 
tions, 51,  175,  180 
Pope,  Alexander 

146,  187,  189,  212,  213,  214 

Pope,  Mary,  Magistracy 38 

Porcensis 31 

Potter,  A.  C 30W. 

Powell, 131 

Praetus 140,  141 


Preston,  John 148,  175 

Prideaux,  Humphrey 52 

Primaudaye,  Pierre  de  la,  French  Acad- 
emy   25,  27,  30 

Prince,  Gov.  Thomas 29 

Prince,  Rev.  Thomas 

92«.,  179,  191,  195,  207«.,  213 

Prior,  Matthew 193,  194,  I94«. 

Prodigies  Wonderful 123 

Prynne,  William. . .  .26,  29,  84,  129,  179 

Pryor,  Thomas 28 

Psalmanazar,  George,   History  of  For- 
mosa   132 

Psalms,  Singing 38,  189 

Publick  Occurrences 167,  202 

Pulton,  Ferdinando 123 

Purchas,  Samuel 52,  60,  131,  179 

Purchas,  Samuel,  Jr 53 

Pynchon,  William 55?  ^9 

Quarks,  Francis 3i>  62 

Quincy,  Josiah 171M. 

Rabelais 147 

Rainolds,  John 26,  179 

Rainsborough,  Colonel 64 

Raleigh,  Sir  Walter,  26,  52;  History  of 

the  World,  25,  36,  128,  185 
Ramus,   Petrus,    128,    189;    Wars    in 

France,  39 
Randolph,  Edward.  126,  126/7.,  166,  167 

Ranger,  Edmund 115 

RatclifF,  John 116 

Rathborne,  Aaron 27 

Ravius,  Christian 18,  \%n. 

Rawlinson,  Richard 179 

Rawson,  Edward 158 

Ray,  John 175 

Reade,  Edmund 64 

Reade,  Samuel 176 

Reade,  Thomas 64 

Reader,  The 187 

Reasons    Presented    by    the    Dissenting 

Brethren 59 

Reeves,  John 48 

Renatus 20jn. 

Reuberus,  Justus ^34"- 

Revius,  Jacobus 131 


Index. 


319 


Reynard  the  Fox 121 

Reynolds,  John 121,  131 

Rhodes,  Henry 118,1  "j^n. 

Ricaut,  Paul 185 

Ricciolo 72 

Rich,  R 26 

Richard  III,  Life  of 132 

Richard,  Nathaniel 26,  i6n. 

Richardson,  Gabriel,  State  of  Europe 

25,  26 

Richardson,  John 91 

Riolan,  J 128 

Rivet 131 

Robbins,  Nicolas 28 

Roberts,  Lewis 179 

Robie,  Thomas 172,  200 

Robinson,  Mrs 5 1 «. 

Robinson,  J 58 

Rochester,  Earl  of 122,  123 

Rocke,  Mrs.  Joseph 51W. 

Rogers,  Ezekiel 43,  44,  57 

Rogers,  John 99 

Rogers,  Nathaniel 50 

Ross,  Alexander 139,  I39«. 

Rossiter,  William  S.,  Old  Boston . . .  1 14«. 

Roves,  Conrad 72W. 

Rowe,  Elizabeth  Singer 149,  197 

Rowland,   William,  Judicial  Astrology 

179 

Rucke,  Thomas,  Jr 50 

Rupert,  Prince 72W. 

Rushworth,  John 175 

Rutherford,  Samuel 51,  131 

Ryece,  Robert 34 

Sacheverell,  Henry 193 

Sackville,  Dr 72«. 

Saffin,  John 77,  149 

St.  German 138 

Sallust 31,  129,  i47«. 

Saltonstall,  Gurdon 108,  184,  193 

Saltonstall,  Henry 21 

Saltonstall,  Sir  Richard 16,  46,  76 

Saltonstall,  Richard  (son  of  Sir  Richard) 

33 
Samford,  John 32 

Sanderson,  Robert 189 

Sandwich,  Earl  of 72«. 


Sandys,  George 36,  2^"-^  S^,  139 

Sat  ana  Colaphizante,  De 114 

Saunderson,  Dr 175 

Saurin,  James 183 

Savage,  Thomas 45«. 

Savile,  Sir  Henry,  Rerum  Anglicarum 

Scriptores 52 

Scanderbeg,  History  of 1 29 

Schernitzius 142 

Schindler 131 

Scoggin,  John 121 

Scottow,  Joshua 41,  4i«. 

Scottow,  Thomas 4i«. 

Scudery,  George  de 121 

Sebastian,  Adventure  of  Don 26 

Sedgwick,  Major-General  Robert. . .  .65 

Seneca 53,  57,  128,  130 

Serres,  J 59 

Sewall,  Henry  (father  of  Samuel) .  .  .  149 
Sewall,  Henry 

(great-grandfather  of  Samuel) ....  149 
Sewall,  Samuel,  105,  108,  115,  116,  117, 
148-150,  154,  156,  162,  168,  i68«. 
i7i>  174,  176,  180,  191,  193,  194,  201, 
202,  205«.,  206,  2o6«.,  207,  loin.,  208, 
2IOW.,"  Diary,  g2n.,  iijn.,  i^Sn., 
i49«.,  i5o«.,  iy6n.,  ig^n.,  202«., 
205«.,  2o6«.,  207«.;  Letter-Book,  lo^n., 
io6«.,  iijn.,  Ii8«.,  ii9«.,  i49«., 
i^on.,  i74«.,  i75«.,  ij6n.,  i8o«., 
i9i«.,  i93«.,  194".,  202«.,  205«., 
2o6«.,  2ojn.,  2o8«. 

Sewall,  Stephen 154 

Shaftesbury,  Earl  of 122,  186 

Shaftesbury,  Advices  to  the  Men  q/. . .  125 

Shakespeare 182,  187 

Sharlot,  Henry ^55"- 

Sheffield,  Edmund 93 

Shepard,  Thomas,  16,  17,  57«.,  74,  78«., 
85«.,  89,  94«.,  138,  163 

Shepard,  Thomas,  Jr 138,  I38«. 

Sheppard,  William 123 

Sherman,  John i8«. 

Shrimpton,  Henry 79 

Shute,  Samuel 202«, 

Sibbs,  Richard 131 

Sibley,  John  Langdon I03«.,  104W. 

Sibly, I77"' 


320 


Index. 


Sidney,  Sir  Philip.  .  .  .60,  6ow.,  121,  122 

Skeat,  Walter  W I46W. 

Skelton,  Samuel i6n. 

Slegelius,  J 72«. 

Sloane,  Sir  Hans 199 

Small,  Walter  Herbert 23W. 

Smith,  C 131 

Smith,  Henry 28 

Smith,  John  (1580-1631) 26 

Smith,  John,  (fl.  1673-1680)  Horological 

Dialogues 125 

Smith,  Judith 28 

Smith,  Ralph 15,  i6«. 

Smith,  Sir  Thomas,  Commonwealth  of 

England 26 

Smyth,  Ester 136 

Smyth,  Sir  John 23 

Smyth,  Richard 136 

Socrates,  Scholasticus 59,  60 

Somerset,  Duke  of 200 

Somner,  William 129 

Songs  of  the  Redeemed 1 89 

Sophocles 53,  1 29 

South,  Dr 188 

Southwell,  Sir  Robert ~iin. 

Sparks,  Dr.  Thomas 93 

Spectator 

184,  185,  187,  194,  203,  212,  215 

Speed,  John 27,  38,  58,  60,  don. 

Spencer,  Dr.  John 112 

Spenser,  Benjamin,  London's  Complaint 

31 

Spenser,  Edmund 2o«.,  60 

Sprat,  Bishop 48/7.,  72«. 

Stadius,  Joannes 128 

Stallius 118 

Standish,  Arthur 27 

Standish,  Miles 25>  ^9 

Statutes,  Abstract  of  Penal 39 

Staythrop, 56 

Stedman,  Isaac 77 

Steele,  Sir  Richard 184,  185,  197 

Steere,  Richard 161,  211,  21 1«. 

Steiner,  Bernard  C 6^n.,  ']6n. 

Stephanus,  Henricus 4I,  4IW. 

Stephanus,  Robertas 105 

Stephenson,  Nicholas 125 

Stierius,  Joannes 118 


Still,  Bishop 77 

Stillingfleet,  Edward 124,  125,  175 

Stockton,  Owen iii 

Stone,  Samuel 51,  85^.,  88,  89 

Stoughton,  Israel 49,  65 

Stoughton,  Israel,  Jr 49 

Stoughton,  John  (son  of  Israel) 49 

Stoughton,  Dr.  John 131 

Stoughton,  William 22w.,  49,  65 

Stow,  John,  Survey  of  London. .  .38,  128 

Stretton,  Richard 106 

Stubbes,  Philip 179 

Swedish  Intelligencer 25,  26,  39 

Swift,  Dean 187,  188 

Sylvester,  Joshua 60 

Symson,  Patrick 59 

Tacitus 50,  129 

Tanckmarus,  Dr 72«. 

Tappin,  John 115 

Tappin,  Joseph 115 

Tarnovius,  Joannes 51 

Tate,  Nahum 92,  92K. 

tatler 184,  185 

Taylor,  Edward 136^.,  162,  207«. 

Taylor,  Jeremy,  16,  27,  58;  Gate  to 

Heaven,  125 

'Telltale 214 

Temple,  Sir  Thomas 

42,  56,  75,  75«.,  132 

Temple,  Sir  William 121,  182,  186 

Tench,  Edward 49 

Terence 31,  118,  129,  189 

Term  Catalogues 125 

Tey,  John 49 

Thacher,  Rev.  Peter 18 

Thacher,  Thomas 18 

Thesaurus  Poeticus 31 

Thomas,  Isaiah 

40«.,  8o«.,  8i«.,  92«.,  203^.,  lion.,  213 

Thomas,  William 28 

Thompson,  Mrs.  William 100 

Thomson,  James 211 

Thorncomb,  Andrew 1 14,  1 16 

Thornton,  Thomas 69W, 

Thorowgood,  Thomas 150 

Thuanus 1 80 

Thucydides ion. 


Index. 


321 


Thurston,  Dr no 

Tighe,  Dr 93 

Tilden,  Nathaniel i8,  77 

Tillotson,  John 188 

Tindall,  W 59 

Toland,  John,  Amyntor 117 

Tompson,  Benjamin 159 

Tozer,  Henry 125 

Tradescant,  J yaw. 

Tremellius,  Immanuel 105,  175 

Trenchfield,  C,  Cap  oj  Gray  Hairs .  .  121 

Trithemius,  Johann 139,  I39«. 

Troughton,  John in 

T'rojy,  Destruction  of 121 

Truebner,  Nikolaus.  .  .  .8o«.,  8i«.,  92«. 

Tuckney,  Dr.  Anthony 125 

Tuckney,  Jonathan 112 

Tulley,  John i66«. 

Turell,  Ebenezer 

104W.,  I54«.,  I97«.,  214 

Turkish  History 25>  39 

Turretinus,  Franciscus 118 

Tusser,  Tom 147,  i47«. 

Tuttle,  Julius  H 40W.,  178 

Twisse,  William 51,  132 

Tyler,  Moses  Coit 

66«.,  86,  95,  i66«.,  205W.,  2IOW. 
Tyng,  William 37,  40,  78 

Udall,  Nicholas 147 

Uffenbach,  Z.  C.  von 103 

Urry,  John i46«.,  i47«. 

Usher,  Dr.  Hezekiah 

40,  5i>79.  114,  "5.  149.  157 

Usher,  Mrs.  Hezekiah 149 

Usher,  Hezekiah,  Jr 1 14 

Usher,  Archbishop  James 17 

Usher,  John 

114,  115,  120,  123,  124,  157 

Valentine  and  Orson,  History  of .  .  .  .121 

Valero,  Cypriano 117 

Valle,  Pietro  della 128 

Vane,  Sir  Henry 16,  46,  "jon. 

Vane's  Trial,  Sir  Henry 52 

Vassall,  William 77 

Venus  in  the  Cloyster 123 

Verstegan,  Richard 53,  i47«. 


Verulam,  See  Francis  Bacon 

Vesey,  William 104 

Vigenere,  Blaise  de 46,  ^6n.,  67 

Vines,  Richard 87,  88«. 

Virgil.  .  .  .36,  118,  139,  I40,  i6o«.,  176, 
187,  188,  2o6«. 

Vives,  Lud 59 

Voetius 132 

Vondel ']on. 

Wadsworth,  Benjamin 102,  207M. 

Wakeley,  Andrew 119 

Walker,  William 124,  125 

Wallaeus,  Joannes I48 

Walley,  Thomas Si^n.,  136,  I36«. 

Ward,  James 22w. 

Ward,  John 50 

Ward,  Nathaniel 17 

Ward,  R 132 

Warwick,  Countess  of 77 

Waterman,  Robert 29 

Watts,  Isaac 176,  183,  192,  197 

Webb,  Henry 78 

Welde,  Thomas 37>  63,  (>2,n. 

Welsteed,  William 181 

Wendell,  Barrett 

2i«.,  io7«.,  150,  155".,  165,  i65«. 

Whalley,  Edward 66 

Wharton,  Lord 153 

Wheeler,  Joseph 117 

Wheelwright,  John 63M.,  67,  68 

Whetenhall,  Thomas 59 

Whipple,  John 9i«. 

Whistler,  Dr 73 

Whiston,  Joseph 125 

Whiston,  William 184,  185 

White,  John 187W. 

Whitfield,  Henry 17 

Whitgift,  John 59 

Whiting,  Mrs 45"- 

W^hiting,  Rev.  Samuel 112 

Whitmore,  W.  H I78«. 

Whittaker, 59 

Whittingham, 58,  58«. 

Wierus,  Joannes 138,  138K.,  I4I 

Wiggin,  Nathaniel 54 

Wigglesworth,  Michael 

92,  95«.,  126,  161,  192,  210 


322 


Index. 


Wigglesworth,  Samuel 210 

Wild,  Robert 1 22 

Wilkins,  John 72^.,  74,  118,  184 

Wilkins,  Richard 116,  i  \gn. 

Willard,  Captain I97"- 

Willard,  Samuel 189 

Wiliett,  Andrew 39.  50>  5i>  59 

Williams,  John 189,  191,  207W. 

W'illiams,  Roger,  15,  16,  i6w.,  35,  46,  54, 
54W.,  55W.,  64,  69,  83,  84,  i36«.,  148 

Willis,  Dr.  Thomas 72W.,  128 

Willis,  John 132 

Wilson,  Arthur 128 

Wilson,  John,  35,  43,  51,  57,  62«.,  77, 

79>93.  158 

Wilson,  John,  Jr 51 

Wilson,  Thomas 37 

Wingate,  Edmund 34 

Winslow,  Edward 

ijn.,  4in.,  62«.,  66,  84 

Winslow,  Gov.  Josiah 158 

Winsor,  Justin ^33^- 

Winthrop,  Adam 73,  76 

Winthrop,  Anne 190W.,  201 

Winthrop,  Fitz-John 

64,65,  157,  157W.,  158^.,  201 
Winthrop,  John,  Sr.,  15,  16,  30,  32«., 

34,  35«.,  62,  64,  76,  77,  94«.;  Journal, 

i8w.,   30«.,   62«.,   B^fi..,   65«.,    66w., 

76^.,  77«.,  84,  84«. 
Winthrop,  John,  Jr.,  i6«.,  17,  ign.,  30, 

3o»->  32,  33y  37.  41"-.  42,  42"-.  45.  46, 
47,  54,  54«.,  55W.,  s6n.,  57«.,  63^.,  64, 
66,  67,  71,  73,  74,  84,  110,  i36«.,  152, 
172 
Winthrop,  John,  F.R.S.,  67,  71,  157W., 
178/2.,  190,  191,  199,  200,  201,  202, 

207«. 


Winthrop,  Robert  C ijn. 

Winthrop,  Stephen 46,  6372.,  64 

Winthrop,  Wait,  157,  157W.,  158,  I58«., 

176,  190,  190^.,  199,  20IW.,  202 
JVinthrop  Papers,  2iw.,  32/2.,  33n.,  34W., 

37"-.  4i«-.  42"-.  44"-.  45"-.  46".,  47«-. 
6472.,  66«.,  67M.,  73«.,  74W.,  94W., 
i57«.,  158K.,  176W.,  i84«.,  190/2., 
199/2.,  200/2.,  201/2.,  202/2.,  207/2. 

Wiswall,  John 133 

Witchcraft,  Discourse  of 132 

Wither,  George 

26,31,85,  137,  179,  182 

Witherly,  Dr 72/2. 

Wolcott,  Henry 63/2. 

Wolcott,  Samuel 63/2, 

Wonders  of  the  Female  World 1 23 

Wood,  Anthony  a 21,  I47,  155 

Wood,  William 83 

Woodbridge,  Benjamin.  .21,  22/2.,  163/2. 

Woodbridge,  John 18/2. 

Woodbridge,  Timothy 207/2. 

Woodrop,  William 69/j. 

Woodward,  John,  184,  190,  190/2.,  199/2. 

Worsley,  Benjamin 73 

Wotton,  Sir  Henry 72W.,  186 

Wotton,  Matthew 117 

Wren,  Sir  Christopher 72/2. 

Wycherley,  William 187 

Xenophon 128 

Yale,  Elihu 153,  184,  186 

Young,  Anthony 176 

Zepper,  Wilhelm 60 


Errata  and  Notes, 


Page  128,  1.  12:  For  "augment  [atione]"  read  "augment  [is]." 

Page  131,  1.     6:  For  "State  of  E  [urope]"  read  "State  of  E  [ngland]." 

Page  150,  Is.  4  and  5:  Hornius'    "Carthaginian   Dream"  is   a  reference  to  page 

129  of  Lib.  II  of  "De  Originibus  Americanis." 
Page  185,  1.     3:  For  "Huylin"  read  "Heylyn." 
Page  197,  1.  17:  For  "Edward  Calamy"  read  "Edmund  Calamy." 


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